Dagger's Dance
by blue mariposa
Summary: TEMPORARILY ON HIATUS What happens when Kai, a common street dancer, is thrust into the world of Kel and her friends and then forced to stay and be a maid for her own good? R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: not mine! (Wow that was easy) Ok, this is longer than I meant for it to be, but it kinda just happend, but the rest of the chapters probably won't be this long.

The streets of Corus were filled that fateful Midsummer day with people talking, laughing, many holding drinks as they watched the shows. A magician performed sleight of hand tricks that left the young children in the crowd gasping in wonder, while a puppet show nearby acted out a story done so often by their peers that almost everyone in the audience knew every line, but still laughed as the hero cunningly outwitted the villain and everyone lived happily every after. A hazel-eyed singer stood in front of a large crowd, drawn by the sound of her captivating voice, and there was a trio of musicians behind her playing the fickle melody. The girl finished her song with a high note, then curtseyed and hurried off the slight platform that had been erected for the street entertainers' purposes.

Another girl, the same age as the singer, waited by the back stairs of the stage behind a curtain positioned to block the audience's view of the preparations backstage. Just as magicians never revealed their tricks, entertainers hated for the public to know just how the men were able to get on the exotic, high stilts or why the jugglers really never dropped their balls, ladders, saws, and other assorted instruments.

The first girl rubbed her throat, gratefully accepting the water that the other handed her, pausing to tie up her brown hair from the mass of curls it had been painstakingly put into that morning.

"You were great, Danai! I told you that you could get that note!" the second girl praised quietly, mindful of the people just feet away on the other side of the shielding curtain.

"No, you told me that I'd better practice or my voice would break in front of everyone," Danai complained as the musicians took their own bow and left the stage to great applause.

"My fingers are going to fall off," one fiddler, a blonde youth, complained to the other two. The next comment her directed at Danai with a grin: "If you keep picking these fast songs, we're all going to be at the healers' for months!"

"As if you don't enjoy all the attention, Rob," retorted the girl, smiling. She turned to her companion, "When are you on, Kai?"

Kai tilted her head up to check the angle of the sun. "Two hours. Enough time to go buy some trinkets or watch Hedi do her flame routine," she said hopefully. She herself was dressed in a dancer's customary performance clothes, a tight shirt and loose breeches that reached down to her calves, covered by six different colored skirts, all in shades of orange, yellow, and red. Her dark mahogany hair was in several braids that were all caught in a strict bun at the back of her head, and her makeup exaggerated the size of her green eyes and red lips to humorously match her role.

At the mention of said routine involving fire, Danai groaned, "As if we haven't seen it scores of times before, we have to ruin Midsummer by going to see it. Great idea."

They watched the next act, a foursome of acrobats pass them on their way to the stage, exchanging greetings and wishes of luck. "Fine, if you don't want to go watch her I'll do it alone."

Danai relented, "Fine, but just because my mother taught me never to wander the streets alone."

Kai laughed happily, throwing a carefree arm around her friend's shoulder. "As if you aren't used to it by now. Six years on the streets and you're still afraid that you'll get robbed or something. You don't have any money, and I swear that we must know half of the local pickpockets."

"That's ok, I'll admit that you do tend to make wandering the streets aimlessly a little more interesting. Mostly because of your tendency to be in the worst place at the worst possible time."

Kai frowned. "I do not have that problem. Maybe it was that server's problem that the cats happened to be there that night, not mine."

Danai giggled. "Sure. What about the time with the drummer? The jewelry salesman? The herb woman? Or when you accidentally…"

"All right, you made your point," Kai said glaring, but the effect was completely lost due to the comic placement of her facial makeup.

They each bought some food, talking to various friends as they finished performing or doing less legal jobs, admired the wares in the stalls, and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. They even got back early for Kai's troupe to be on schedule, which was a rarity, and Kai didn't have anything stained on her costume, not even the usual slight mishaps with newly-painted banners, dogs fighting, or even waiters spilling water on her at the restaurant they went into. So for Kai, the day could have been perfect.

Except that when they were backstage waiting to go on, Kai wandered to one side, about to begin stretching, when a figure burst through the curtains wielding a knife to the indignant cries of those nearby. He bumped into Kai, pushing her into one of the nearby wooden walls, which, luckily, was much sturdier and held her weight. She watched in a sort of daze as he looked around, his eyes alighting on her. She straightened, wincing as she felt her bruised back.

In that moment, two things happened. The most obvious of which was that yet another person bowled into the curtain, racing through, also holding a sword. The other thing was that the original man grabbed Kai, holding his knife to her throat and using her as a shield against the newest intruder, who had been holding his sword with the clear intention of impaling Kai's attacker. Kai blinked her eyes, trying to remain upright and wondering how hard she had hit that wall.

"Don't move," the man with the knife said. She felt it move dangerously close to her neck and instantly stilled. The one holding the sword Kai quickly realized was not a boy as she had first assumed, but a girl in rough squires' attire with a short masculine haircut.

She waved he sword menacingly, saying, "Joren, if you don't let that poor girl go…"

"You'll what?" asked the blonde who held her. "Go to meathead? Or better yet…the stone? See how far that gets you, Kel."

"I saw you kill him," Kel said tersely. Kai tensed, realizing that a murderer held her life in his hands. She noticed that everyone nearby was watching the exchange, but none would do anything for fear of getting her killed. The last act had finished, and was now staring with the rest of the passing crowd, but this squire was the only to address the murderer.

"So what if you saw me?" Joren retorted, moving back, away from his opponent slightly. "Who are people likely to believe? The whore training as a squire, or the eldest son of the duke of Stone Mountain fief?"

Just then, as Joren continued to edge away, a third member joined the group. This one was tall, and older than the other two, but his eyes widened as he took in the scene. "Don't even try it, Meathead," warned Joren as the newcomer began to glow a pale emerald green. "If you even attempt anything, the girl gets it," he said, pricking her neck with the knifepoint. Kai closed her eyes as she felt a drop of blood run down her skin. Some distant, sane part of her was remarking about the fact that this had been the only costume that she hadn't somehow gotten some stain onto, and now there was blood.

She opened her eyes; saw Kel glance at her concernedly. "What do you want Joren?" she asked, her face blank.

"I don't want you or anyone to be told of what happened back there. That was private." Kel looked like she was about to object, but Joren moved the blade closer to Kai. "I don't want the duke, king, Wyldon, or anyone after me after this. This will NEVER," he emphasized the word, "become public knowledge. Got it?"

"And you'll let her go?" Kel asked, nodding at Kai. "And leave the city?"

"Agreed," Joren said. "Unfortunately I don't trust you so someone go get my horse." Kel nodded at one of the newcomers in the crowd who wore the squires' uniform also. He cast a concerned look at Kai before swinging onto his own steed and galloping toward to palace.

Kai searched the crowd, her eyes finding Danai, who looked like she was about to cry. The leader of her troupe looked crestfallen so she gave him a sympathetic smile, knowing that he was probable disappointed that they had never performed their new routine. One of the local pickpockets was holding a knife and studying the entire scene. Kai suddenly knew that doing anything like what he apparently had in mind would be very, very stupid. She tried to meet his eyes, trying to tell him to stop, but he didn't seem to understand until someone nearby, who also had been watching her, poked him and began talking to him. Kai suddenly wondered where the Watch was, but as they weren't helping, she decided that that was unimportant.

Very quickly the squire was back with Joren's horse, and before Kai knew what was happening, he had thrust her unto the saddle, twisting one of her arms behind her back. Somehow he was able to direct the horse without the reins, as he maneuvered a path through the anxious crowd to the main road out of the city.

Kai noticed that her defenders were keeping pace with them on their own rides, but they were far enough back not to frighten anyone.

After they had passed the last checkpoint and crossed the city walls, Kel shouted, "Joren you're out of the city. We won't tell anyone so just let the poor girl go."

He broke into a canter as soon as she started talking, but at the end her muttered, "Let her go. Fine." And her threw her out of the saddle, at a distance not to be killed by the horse's hooves, but still close enough for her to be too scared to scream. She felt her head snap back onto the cobblestones before the darkness stole her away.

Kel's POV

Kel watched as Neal put a glowing hand to the dancer's forehead, wondering how Joren could have done something as careless as that. The others gathered around them, all trying to talk at once.

"What'd he do that was so bad?" "The crowd said it was murder." "They'd need a witness, right?" "Who did he kill?" "How did this girl get caught in it?" "Who was it?" "Where'd you hear that?"

"Be quiet everyone!" Neal practically shouted. "If you want to know anything, I suggest you let Kel talk."

Everyone's eyes turned to her. Kel looked around at her friends, reviewing what she knew in her head. "Well," she said slowly, "I was coming back from a horse merchant's stall when I saw Joren in a back ally. He had a sword and he was killing a man. I don't know what happened, or if it was provoked, but I guess I might have gotten so angry that I didn't stop to think." She allowed a sheepish grin to penetrate her normal Yamani blankness. "I started chasing him, and he eventually, after a few angry shopkeepers and some broken wares, went through the stage curtain on the main road, the large one. I got there and he had he poor girl scared to death at knifepoint." She shook her head. "I can't believe he would do something like that. He killed a man! With a sword! Using the knowledge and training that we all got to protect people like that to murder!" Kel shuddered.

She glanced down to where Neal had reduced the swelling of the dancer's head to a minor bruise, but still was keeping her in a Gift induced sleep. "What do we do with her?" Neal asked.

"Why not just let her go back?" someone asked. "She must have a life, a family to return to."

"No," Kel said firmly. "Do you actually think that Joren will honor his promise to stay out of the city? He has too much at risk here: his honor, his position, his wealth. No, he's going to come back, and he won't want anyone living to know his secret," she finished grimly.

"Well, we all know," Merric said.

"And we're trained fighters Merric!" Kel said through gritted teeth. "She is a street dancer, how do you expect her to defend herself against a man with a sword?"

"Would you like to go back and guard everyone who paused to stare and heard you declare him a murderer?" Neal asked, obviously thinking that she was being too concerned over nothing.

"No, because if Joren comes back he won't bother to track down people who know almost nothing. That would be pointless! But she," Kel pointed at the prone figure, feeling slight anger rushing through her veins, "Has reason to report him to the Watch for threatening her, and she could not have missed what I said. Joren knows what she looks like, and he will track her down eventually!"

"So what are you suggesting?" someone else inquired.

Kel stopped. What was she thinking? Would the girl really want to be uprooted from her life just because someone might come back and might recognize her? Too many ifs to take chances, she decided. "Well, I would take her as a maid, just to keep an eye on her, but I already have Lalasa and I can't support another person." She looked hopefully at the small gathering.

Neal sighed. "My dad would kill me if he thought I was hiring a maid for any reason. He'd say I was just being lazy."

There were other demurrals around the circle, most for legitimate reasons, for she knew that most of them did already have people under their employment. Her eyes scanned the crowd once more, searching out someone who could afford another person.

"Faleron?" She asked quietly, not wanting to pressure him by everyone hearing.

He shifted nervously from foot to foot, studying the sleeping girl. Finally, he said, "Well, I don't have anyone working for me now. Uh…I guess father won't mind."

Kel noticed some people's expressions looking suspiciously like relief as they heard that, but she guessed that none wanted to deal with the rumors that always surrounded court when two people lived remotely close to one another. She nodded to Neal, who took his emerald green hand off the girl, who still didn't wake up.

Neal swore softly. "I may have used more of my Gift than I thought." He stood up, turning to Faleron. "Your new maid!"  
he said, gesturing at the unconscious dancer.

Ok, better than anticipated. Now, all you people out there with consciences should click on that little box down there and tell me what you think. yes, I mean review.

Mari


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own this; so don't sue me. (Speaking of sue, if you're out there reading this, well, stop. No, wait, not the rest of you. Sue! See how much you mess me up? No, not you all: sue! Oh, never mind.) On with the story!

Kai woke slowly, trying to ignore the slight throb in the back of her head or the bruises on her back and shoulders. Then she realized very quickly that she was on a horse. A moving horse. She shrieked, her head snapping back and hitting someone in the exact spot that still hurt. Whoever was sitting behind her dropped the reins, causing the horse to come to an abrupt halt that nearly tilted Kai out of the saddle. There were others riding around them, she noticed, all who stopped and appeared to be hiding grins.

"Stop," ordered a girl who Kai vaguely recognized. Then she mentally shook her head. How would she know a girl dressed as a squire? Hardly any of the squires came anywhere near where she and her friends lived, and if they did, they probably wouldn't waste their time talking to the likes of her. The squire glared at the others, who lowered their hands, but still appeared to be fighting laughter.

She glanced down warily at the horse. She hated horses. All horses. She had been injured by one when it reared suddenly in the street and its rider couldn't control it. Of course, commoners like her never rode the animals, but there was still plenty to fear without ever having been on its back. The horse snorted contemptuously, as if it knew of her cowardice.

"Don't like animals?" a voice asked behind her. She started again, having forgotten that there was someone else. Turning cautiously, she looked at the other, who had slid easily out of the saddle and onto the ground, which looked really high from where she was sitting.

He reached up and helped her scramble not so gracefully off the horse. "Don't like horses." She shuddered. "Too high."

"Scared of heights?" one of those still mounted asked. Then he grinned at the other girl. "Kel, you two could have so much in common."

"I'm not scared of heights I'm scared of them," Kai repeated patiently, nodding at the animal behind them, whose nostrils looked suspiciously flared.

"Yes, pay attention, Meathead," said the girl.

At that point, Kai was looking around, wondering where she was. This was obviously one of the larger roads out of the city, for she had been along on of these once before. There were almost ten people around them, leaving their high perches for the ground. They were all dressed in uniform, and Kel seemed to be the only girl. Suddenly, Kai remembered hearing about them in the inn where she lived: Keladry of Mindelan. She was said by some to be the first girl to follow in the Lioness' footsteps; the city had been abuzz with gossip when she had passed her first year and been allowed to continue, and again when she made it all the way to being a squire. There were bets being placed on whether or not she would be knighted; Old Sarla, one of the elders on the streets, said that they would have to let Kel through, or the king may have to fear his own champion.

Then, it quite suddenly occurred to Kai to wonder how she had gotten out of the city with a group of pages. It was Midsummer! She should be performing with her troupe; she had trained for this show for so long! She glanced at the sky, disappointed; they would have finished by now. And where was Danai? She would be so worried.

The memory of what had happened hit her at that point, and if her legs, after so much training, weren't already tense, she may have staggered. Sure, she was fine, but none of her friends knew that! Especially those who weren't on the good side of the law, and would assume that she had been mistaken for a criminal, or had been associating with them. They were always worried about capture, and some if them never told anyone their real names, not even their closest friends, for fear of betrayal.

She looked up, meeting the eyes of the one who had been behind her. He looked like he was about to say something, or introduce himself, but she interjected quickly, "I have to go back."

At that, his eyes clouded slightly, and he turned almost unconsciously to Kel, who was obviously the leader of their group, Kai thought. Kel frowned, marring her expressionless face. "You can't go back. Joren might come back, and if he does, he knows your face and what you do. We know that he won't hesitate to kill, and now you know his secret too. It's too dangerous."

"What about all you?" Kai asked. She turned to Kel, "You were there. Why don't you care that he may come after you?"

"I'm a squire. I can defend myself against a trained fighter. You are a dancer."

"I can handle myself. I wouldn't be alone. I have friends who can fight," she protested. "Who are you to control my life?"

Kel's eyes darkened slightly with guilt. Kai watched her, not noticing Neal quietly sneaking around the horse or Faleron's sad expression. Kel replied, "We are supposed to protect people. And it was partly my fault that Joren got chased behind that curtain, and otherwise you wouldn't be stuck in all this," she paused, giving a tiny nod. "I'm sorry." Too late she felt the hand on her shoulder before the too-familiar darkness snatched her once more.

Kel's POV

"Why'd you have to do that again?" Faleron demanded, glaring at Neal, who nodded at Kel.

"She wouldn't have come with us without us dragging her through the city screaming, and who knows how many friends she may have there who might be a little mad at us for 'kidnapping' her," Kel explained with a guilty glance at the prone form in Faleron's arms. "You just better hope she doesn't wake up again before we get her inside the palace,' she said with a grin. Faleron grimaced, rubbing her chin where the girl's head had collided.

"What will we do if Joren doesn't come back? How long will you keep her somewhere she doesn't want to be?" Neal asked her.

"I don't know!" Kel snapped. Then her voice softened, "I don't know what to do. We can't let her go back, and I don't want this poor girl's life on my conscience any more than it is already. We'll worry about that when it happens."

"It's not your fault that Joren killed someone," Owen pointed out. "Or that he decided to take a hostage. Stop blaming yourself."

"I guess you're right," she said quietly, remembering the scene that she had witnessed before, the dead corpse, the blood, the hunted look in Joren's eyes. What had pushed him to this degrading state? He had never been the kindest person, but she had never imagined that he would ever sink so low.

"Well, next question," Neal said with fake cheer. "Who gets to skip the festivities to stay with Faleron and the girl?" They all groaned, "Not me."

Kai woke again, wondering why this felt so familiar. Much more quickly than the previous time, she remembered everything. She had to leave, she decided, opening her eyes.

Unlike last time, she was on a cot in a room, which, though, plain, was fancier than anywhere she had ever been before. She was at the palace then, she thought. And what did Kel expect to do, keep her prisoner here or something?

She sat up, but felt an arm restraining her. "You're not supposed to be up so soon after a sleep like that, Neal said," the person who was stopping her explained. "Gifted sleep," he said at her confused look.

"So you'd prefer it if after I was forced to sleep by the mage, I could just do as you like and sit here and rest?" she asked sarcastically.

Just after the words left he mouth, she realized that a trained fighter might not be he best person to annoy. To her relief, he grinned. She glanced around, finding herself in a side room off another with a plate labeled with a knight's name. The room itself was simple a rather small considering the palace's reputation, but everything in it was of a fine make and good quality.

She suddenly realized that she, a street dancer, was sitting in the palace with a person she didn't know. Why not? She thought, and introduced herself, "I'm Kai," holding out her hand to shake as was customary on the street.

Apparently he'd never heard of that particular tradition, as instead of shaking her hand, he gripped her forearm. "Faleron." He saw her confused expression for the second time in as many minutes and said, "oh sorry, palace thing."

"I'll remember that," she said wryly, rubbing her elbow where he had touched it. She glanced out the window, estimating that it had been two hours since Joren had burst through the curtain.

The door opened, and Kel walked in balancing a tray cluttered with plates, followed by a girl that Kai recognized as a seamstress who frequently made dresses for the owner of the inn. That she puzzled over for a second. Did they want her to help the tailor? She couldn't sew to save her life.

"Oh," Faleron said, stepping forward. "Kai, this is Kel, whom you should remember," he told her with an ironic smile, "And her maid, Lalasa."

Kai stood and executed the curtsy that she had been forced to practice for shows by her dance teacher, suppressing a grin as she didn't fall on her face, as she could distinctly remember having done many times previously. She rose, feeling slightly lightheaded, probably from that sleep that Faleron had been talking about. Putting a hand to her head, she blinked until her vision cleared.

"I know, curtseying used to do that to me too," said Lalasa sympathetically.

"I think it was Neal," Kel commented.

"Don't go blaming him that she can't stand," warned Faleron. Kai listened, confused. Was he standing up for her? Why? And how was it Kel's fault?

"Well, next time we'll do it your way and drag a screaming girl through Corus and see who protests," Kel retorted with a sweet smile. Kai was still lost, but she tried not to show it.

Lalasa handed her some food, which Kai accepted gladly, realizing that she hadn't eaten since noon that day. Someone else came in the door, asking, "What's everyone in here for?" Then he saw that Kai was awake and grinned, "Wahoo, now Neal can stop looking guilty all the time."

"I do not look guilty, Owen," said Neal, following him inside the now-crowded room. "Although," he said quietly, studying her, "She should have woken up half an hour ago."

"Maybe it's you," Owen suggested. "You're…going insane and so you pour your Gift into unsuspecting victims."

"Shut up, Owen," Kel said. "Maybe she just doesn't have the immunity that most people develop. Have you been Healed before?"

"Of course," Kai answered, "Everyone has been. Well, not as often as most folk," she amended, wishing that she weren't so uncomfortable being under discussion. She turned to Kel, "I want to leave."

Kel raised her eyebrows. "You can barely walk and you want us to loose you onto the drunken streets?"

"So you want to hold me prisoner here?" she demanded. "How does this make you different than Joren?"

"Not prisoner," Kel corrected. "What if you were employed? Is that any better?"

"So you want me to work in the palace. That's really not that safe as people out there," she indicated the city through the window, "tell it."

"She's right," Lalasa put in, glancing at her employer. "They tell horrible stories in the taverns to keep girls employed there instead of up here."

"That doesn't matter, we don't want to get you a job in the palace," Kel said. "Well, it's in the palace, but not… Never mind. Faleron has graciously offered to employ you."

"Good thing too," Owen said, looking around with plain disgust at the disarrayed piles of clothes and weapons. "You've got your work cut out for you."

"Wait," protested Kai, "What if he doesn't come back? Joren? I don't want to stay here as a maid the rest of my life."

"We'll worry about that later," said Kel firmly. She herded everyone out the door, leaving her alone with Faleron.

He saw her appalled look and commented, "I never thought my room was this bad." Then he said seriously, "This really never was supposed to turn out like this, so don't blame Kel. I don't think she ever thought that even that jerk would go so low. This is all just temporary," he assured her.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized. "I'm grateful for this and all, but I have friends out there," she nodded again to the window. "And they'll be worried. They all saw what happened today, and those who didn't will hear exaggerated tales soon enough. And I can't be a maid. You haven't seen my room," she told him. Then she felt her eyes widen. Her clothes, pictures, jewelry, everything was in her room at the inn and if rumor were going around that she was dead then man of the thieves wouldn't have a problem stealing anything. Her locket was still there, she realized, eyes closed. The one with the picture of her parents in it that she had had to take off today in favor of another favorite that matched her costume. "I have to leave."

She stood up, heading for the door, but Faleron was there before her. She glared at him, then sighed. "What if I promised to come back by nightfall?"

"No."

"Are you just saying that because Kel said to?" she asked. "Why is she in charge?"

"She isn't. It just happens that she's right," he answered steadily.

"Look, I have to leave. My friends'll think I'm dead, all my things are still at the inn, and poor Danai will be out of her mind."

"Who's Danai?" Faleron asked.

"My best friend," she answered almost automatically. Then she realized that he was trying to change the topic, and scowling, said, "I'm wasting time. The sooner you let me go, the sooner I come back. And if you don't let me leave then I'll have to sneak out at night, and the streets are much worse after nightfall than during the afternoon."

He grimaced. "Fine. But I'm coming."

He was going to protest, but he seemed resolute, and she probably wasn't going to be able to make him stay here. Fine, she thought, I'll just have to lose him in the streets. "Fine," she said aloud, "But we're not taking a horse."

He rubbed his chin. "Let's walk," he agreed.

Kai rolled her eyes. She thought now in retrospect that Danai probably would have saved her things from the thieves anyway, but she wanted her things if they were going to force her to stay at the palace. She wasn't quite sure if that would compromise the fact that she had to endure the stares of the innkeeper's wife when she walked in, shadowed by an armed youth with obvious signs of weapons. He had firmly refused to leave them in his room, but Kai couldn't blame him: she had two small knives that she could use hidden in much less visible places.

Now she stared at her barren room; there had been no signs of forced entry, so her things hadn't been stolen. Slowly, she grinned.

"Are you happy that your stuff was taken?" Faleron asked from behind her. Now she did roll her eyes.

"Look," she pointed out the unscratched door and window, explaining that her friend had taken everything after assuming that she was dead. This led to another walk through the twisting streets. Faleron didn't seem to know the streets well, so she had been surprised when she hadn't been able to lose him among the myriads of maze-like alleys. She supposed that the knights-in-training were in better condition than the elders in the tavern rambled.

They reached Danai's apartments much quicker, mainly because Kai hadn't bothered trying to dart away again into the still-celebrating masses. It was still the same day, Kai thought, amazed. Had it been just hours ago that she and Danai had watched the acrobats tumble across the stage?

Her apartments were in the slightly older part of the city, where some of the buildings were crumbling, but Danai's landlord kept her home in good condition considering when it was built. Kai knocked on the third door in the ground floor hallway, tap tap, tiptop, just as she had for the past eight years, since she was six and she and Danai had met. Without waiting for an answer, she went in, then stopped.

"Kai!" Danai said, slamming into her, crying. "Wait, they said you were dead! What happened?" she demanded. "I got your things because the thieves would of been 'round 'soon as they heard that you were dead. That's what Mistress Fia is telling everyone anyhow."

"I know, she looked like she saw a ghost when I walked in!" Kai laughed. "Oh," she said, remembering Faleron still out in the hallway. "I have a really long story, but you probably won't believe it. This is Faleron," she introduced, dragging him inside. "Faleron, Danai."

"Kai, why do you have a man with knives-lots of knives- following you around?" Danai asked as if she was inquiring about the weather.

"Because he refused to let me come alone. I think some of tem are daggers though," she commented in the same tone.

"Are weapons common around here, then?" he asked, glancing down sheepishly at the three sheaths stuck into his belt.

"Yes, but most people hide them," Kai informed him with a roll of her eyes. She and Danai then proceeded to exchange news while packing up her few processions. Danai was appalled at Kai's story, but she agreed quietly that if Kai couldn't lose one in the twisting streets that she knew so well, it might be very bad to have any of them, especially a murderer after her. Then Kai hurriedly put on her treasured locket with the portrait of her parents in it, then changed into some of her normal clothes in Danai's closet. She came out in a green shirt matching her eyes and plain brown breeched that, like the others, only extended to midcalf, marking her clearly as a dancer."

"We have to leave," Faleron said with a glance out the small window. The sun was just setting on a very long day.

Kai thanked Danai, then hoisting one of the two packs over her shoulder, she promised to come back as soon as 'they' let her, with a glare at the squire standing nervously at the door.

It was hard for Kai to leave her friend's familiar face to return back to the palace, but she did it anyway, not wanting to show weakness in front of Faleron, be embarrassed by getting forced through the streets kicking and fighting, break her promise to return, or any combination of the three.

They stopped on the way to buy some pastries from the bakery, but when Kai would have paid, Faleron simply thrust a coin much larger than their bill into the man's hand and walked away without his change.

"Do you know how much you just gave him?" she asked, jogging to catch up with him.

"Yes," he said, slowing down a little for her. "I know the man. He has six small daughters and two sons not quite infants yet, and his wife…isn't good with kids," he put delicately. She gave a sympathetic glance back at the tired-looking baker, understanding after her own experiences with children.

They were stopped again on their brisk path back by a large crowd gathered around a stage. Kai jumped up to see what they were all watching, and, recognizing her friend Hedi doing her infamous flame routine again. Kai had seen it so many times that she could probably do it herself. When she was done, however, Kai cheered as loud as anyone near her.

"Can I go back and see her?" she asked Faleron, who appeared to be watching someone else in the crowd.

He nodded, but warned her, "Be back in twenty minutes or I'm coming back to get you. Don't forget your promise."

She slipped quietly through the curtains, no one noticing her entrance as she clearly was a dancer, thus, belonged here and was easily dismissed. Walking over to the flame twirler, Kai gave her the scare of her life when she tapped her shoulder.

"Hedi that was even better than the last rehearsal!" Hedi turned, her smile vanishing. Her mouth opened as if to say something; she blinked, and Kai had to grin at her normally unfazed friend. "One compliment and you goes into shock. Your self esteem must be lower than when I saw you last."

"Where have you been?" Hedi finally managed.

Kai returned a good five minutes later than she was supposed to, but Faleron hadn't noticed. He seemed to be deep in conversation with two other squires. One was tall, obviously a Bazhar, and the other was fairly normal looking, one whose face you might forget easily.

"Don't forget," the taller one was saying as she walked up. He cast Faleron a look that Kai had a very difficult time interpreting. Then the two melted back into the crowds.

"Who was that?" Kai asked innocently.

Faleron jumped as if he hadn't seen her arrive. "No one," he said a little too quickly. Kai quickly called up both faces in her mind, committing them to memory. This was important she decided, than, as they continued their walk up the street, she discreetly changed the subject.

"Where did you used to live before you came to the city?" she asked curiously.

"My family's fief is King's Reach, I lived there for a while, but I had been here before. Have you ever been out of the city?"

She nodded. "Once. To this small village half a day to the north. I had relatives who lived there."

Faleron glanced sharply over at the word 'had' but didn't comment. They soon got on the safe topic of career goals, which carried them all the way up to the palace and into the small room that Kai had been given off Faleron's room.

She settled down on her cot after arranging her processions around the small cell, wondering how she had gotten here and when she would leave.

A/N: ok thank you soooo much to my reviewers! You guys have no idea how happy I get when people comment on my stories. And to Ace Ryn Knight: we'll just say that Joren had overheard Kel calling Neal Meathead and had picked it up like that. I love Magic Steps, mostly because it combines fantasy, magis, and dancing. Who would have thought? Ok, I like Sandry too. That being said, review, or else! (I'm joking, don't panic.)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: This isn't mine. Ok, and I'd like to note that I changed the name, because I didn't really like it and then someone reviewed and said she didn't like it either (and I bet you people like then new one even less, but I'm not good with these kinds of things. Actually, I'm exceptionally bad at titles. I apologize for anyone out there who just read the title and rolled their eyes. Myself included And if anyone out there wants to flame me just for that, well, go ahead. I agree with you. Suggestions are welcome if anyone's got a better idea.). Ok, enough rambling, on with the story!

* * *

Kai woke early the next morning, as she had every morning for as long as she could remember. Unlike her room in the city, though, this one was quiet, without the noises of shouting in the marketplace or horses pulling carts beneath the second story window, and in the stillness of predawn, she could hear the muffled sounds of the household staff scurrying around in the secret passageways that were said to be behind the walls.

Resisting the urge to put her ear to the wall and listen for people behind them, she got up and did her routine stretches. By the time she was done, she had bumped almost every wall in the tiny room, had bruises on both her arms and her legs, and had had to skip several of the stretches for lack of room. Finally she left the sanctuary of her new room, wondering what she would find outside the door, and if the previous day had been simply a dream.

Silently slipping out the door, she was surprised to find Faleron standing idly about, constantly glancing at the door, and appearing to be waiting for something. He looked up with a quickly masked expression of relief as she walked out.

"You're up early," he commented, offering her an apple from a bowl on the table. "Eat something," he ordered, thrusting the fruit into her hands anyway.

"It's only dawn and I'm not hungry," she protested, putting the apple back on the table. "I've been up for an hour."

"Rearranging furniture or building new stuff?" he asked sarcastically.

"Oh, I didn't know it was that loud," she said, feeling her face heat up. "I was stretching."

"You weren't that loud, the walls are just thin." He briefly looked puzzled, before, he seemed to remember something. "Oh, right, I keep forgetting what you do for a living," he said with a grin. "Why didn't you just come out here?"

"I didn't know if you were awake. And it's not much bigger in here," she replied with a glance around the cramped room. "I didn't want to get impaled in the process."

He followed her gaze to the cluttered weapon rack, shrugging. "So you want to do that every morning? You'll be too bruised to do anything eventually, and I'll be reported to the Lord Provost for mishandling my staff." He grinned at her expression.

"So you're suggesting that I do it in the halls?" she asked with a hint of sarcasm, annoyed at his comment. "It's kind of narrow out there too."

"No, the maids do dislike residents doing activities like that out there," he said with an experienced tone. She found herself fighting a smile, surprising her. When had they become able to joke with one another? They had been strangers at this time yesterday. She snapped back to what he was saying. "…Should go to the practice courts. No one will be down there this early."

"Don't people go down there to fight?" she asked with a shudder at the stories that she had heard.

"No…well, yes, but mostly it's for practice," he assured her, but she was not so assured when her ears picked up on the 'mostly'. At her expression, he told her, "I'd go with you but I have classes in an hour and before that I have to go to breakfast, where I am routinely forced to eat disgusting green things," he said, and she hoped he was joking, or else she might have to eat in here. "I'll be back around noon, I think. Then I'll have to leave again until later tonight, but normally there's a group of us who study together, so you pretty much have the day to yourself. Oh, but the staff around here will expect to see a slight improvement in my room, so if you could clean a little before they come an hour after noon, it would help," he added.

"All right," she agreed reluctantly, wondering how she'd get around the huge palace with a guide, but she was sure that she'd find someone to point her in the right direction.

"And if you want to go to the practice courts, you have to eat or else you'll faint down there and I'll have the entire court after my blood." He gave her the apple again, and this time, now wary of the servants' mess, she took it.

Only a few minutes later, she had been directed to the practice courts by at least four different maids, all of whom seemed certain, but then Kai would get to the place where she was supposed to turn right and find a blank wall, or a locked door, or something similar.

Stopping, frustrated at yet another wrong turn, she thought back to the directions that she had been given. She had followed them correctly, so why was she still coming up at dead ends?

"Lost?" a familiar voice asked from behind her. She whirled to find the tall Bazhar that had been talking to Faleron the other day standing there, smiling as if he had just heard a particularly funny joke.

"No," she said, trying to sound certain. Something told her that this would not be a good person to show a weakness to, or to rely on for directions.

"So, where are you going?" he asked smoothly. She stepped to the side, intending to slip around him to the empty hallway beyond.

"None of your business," she replied, annoyed as he stepped in front of her.

"I'm your superior," he snapped. "Hold you tongue." He slid closer, and Kai instinctively brought her leg up, kicking him in the face. Attempting to spin away, she felt his arm slide sickeningly around her waist. "Don't," he warned her. Now who did he remind her of? She wondered. Then she instantly felt herself slip into the past, when someone else was holding her captive and told her not to move.

"You're his friend aren't you?" she asked. "Joren's?"

"Of course I am," he replied. She heard the hiss of metal being taken out of a sheath. "And I'm not going to let some little twit of a commoner chase him away like a coward. That would ruin all our plans. You and the others will never tell anyone what you heard, trust me."

She struggled to free herself, but his grip was too strong. She got her elbow free and slammed it into his face, feeling his hold loosen. Taking the opportunity to free herself, she spun away, racing down the hall.

She didn't know where she was anymore, didn't care. Running past shocked maids, who all stood petrified in the doorways, she finally found a familiar hall. She thanked the gods that her pursuer was a slow runner and that she had often participated in the recreational races through the streets in the autumn.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Kai saw yet another door open, but the maid in this one didn't freeze as the rest of them had. She darted into the corridor, flinging a blanket over the tall squire as he passed the door.

"Kai!" she heard from behind her. Turning, she saw her savior, Lalasa, giving her a concerned look. "How did this happen?" she asked, pulling Kai into her room.

Kai explained it as quickly as possible, but leaving nothing out. "Please don't tell anyone," she begged at the end.

"Of course I have to tell someone. Kel and Faleron should know, and his," she indicated the sound of shouting in the hall," knight master, though I doubt that the duke of Kingsport will care," she added dryly.

"Why do they all have to know?" Kai demanded.

"Well, Kel still does feel responsible that you're stuck here in the first place, and Faleron actually is responsible for you, and they've all been looking for an excuse to gang up on him anyway."

"Why?"

"Him and two others were always causing trouble during the page's years. They haven't been friendly ever since. Where were you going? I think breakfast is over by now."

"The practice courts. I wanted to see if I could get there before everyone else does, but I don't think that'll happen now. I kept getting bad directions, too."

"Who was giving you directions?" Lalasa asked with a slight edge to her voice.

"I can't remember. I just asked some maids who happened to be passing in the hall."

"They just 'happened' to be there?" Lalasa repeated suspiciously. "Gods, they may actually have a plan. Or spies in the staff. Or both. This can't be good."

Kai was blaming herself, that she had led her attacker this way; otherwise, Lalasa wouldn't know about this, there wouldn't be what sounded like a war between the staff, and no one would think that she actually was in danger. Now I'll never get back to the streets, she couldn't help thinking.

A bell somewhere, not he usual ones from the temples in the city, tolled the hour, two past dawn. It's that early and already too much has happened, she thought. "Did you ever get to eat anything this morning?"

"I was forced into eating an apple," she said wryly. Lalasa smiled at something that Kai apparently had missed, since her comment was far from that amusing.

"Well, then, you won't mind if I force you into eating something else, would you?" the taller girl asked, pushing a handful of rolls at her. Kai took one and shoved it into her mouth, but only because she had an odd feeling that she wouldn't be allowed to leave if she didn't eat something. "Do you have any plans for the day then?"

"Not really," Kai admitted after a long period of difficult chewing. "Faleron gave me almost the whole day off. I have to go back and do a little cleaning before noon though."

"For the palace maids?" Lalasa asked with another smile. "They do hate cleaning up when they don't have to. They're underpaid," she explained. "Why don't you go clean, and I'll meet you at your room in two hours? I have some chores to do too."

Kai agreed, and, after having Lalasa repeat the directions to her room, which were only a few halls down, she set off. And to her surprise, found herself where she had started this morning! Exalted, she opened the door, grinning at the thought of what her friends would say if they actually saw her cleaning; she was an infamous packrat with no organizational skills whatsoever.

As the bell tolled four hours past dawn, she sat up from where she had scrubbed the floor, after having a great difficulty clearing it, and carefully skirted past her carefully arranged piles that towered over the bed and the already-cleaned parts of the floor. She'd have to come back before Faleron, because she could imagine his expression if he saw all his precious weapons in the floor, however painstakingly stacked.

There was a knock at the door, and she opened it, expecting to see Lalasa, but instead she was surprised to see a group of familiar faces, grinning at her from stage maids' outfits.

"Kai, we're here to save you!" announced Hedi.

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A/N: I'm sorry; I had to end it there! It begged to be a cliffhanger. And the last chapter wasn't one, right?

Thanks so much to my three reviewers! Ha! Who would have thought? And someone out there actually liked my not-so-cliffhanger-like cliffhanger in chapter one! (Did that make sense?) Are there people out there who really enjoy cliffhangers? I am shocked. And I'd just like to point out before you all go asking me if I think Joren's gay, when Zhahir (is that how you spell it?) said plans, he meant evil ones (not to run away together or anything). Ok, now that I've wasted all the time I possibly can, (there's twenty minutes you'll never get back) tell me if you like the new name or hate the entire thing or you were bored to death (I enjoy death as much a the next person, I guess) or if everyone was OOC and you'd prefer it if the entire world came crashing down around the characters' ears (for all the pessimists out there), REVIEW!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I give up. If you can't assume that since the previous chapter was not mine, that this chapter also isn't, then you shouldn't be able to read something like this. With words like big. (I'm sorry, bad mood, lots of sarcasm.)

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Kai stared at them incredulously for a moment until she snapped out of it and unceremoniously shoved them into her room.

"Are you all crazy?" she hissed, remembering how thin the walls were. "You could be put in jail if you got caught!"

"So could you," pointed out Lora, the flutist.

"I didn't sneak, I was snuck," Kai said with great dignity.

"Same difference," snapped Hedi, who appeared to be in charge. "Now we're wasting time standing around so come on, we're leaving." Four of them noticed the door open into her room, calling back:

"Don't worry, Kai, we'll get all you things." She heard them find the bags that she had packed everything in, and begin putting her few possessions inside.

"How do you plan on getting past the guards?" Kai demanded. "Didn't my talk with you yesterday have any effect at all?" she asked Hedi. "Did anyone talk to Danai?"

Sheepish glances were exchanged. "She said we were acting like idiots and to go get someone else to help," someone volunteered.

"Anything else?" Kai asked, not believing for a second that her best friend would have simply refused to go rescue her but not give an explanation why. Or more helpfully, tell them not to come. Kai would have felt awful if any of them were sent to jail because of her. She watched as more looks were given among the small crowd, but Hedi was glaring. Kai closed her eyes, realizing that she wouldn't like what was coming.

"Danai said that you didn't even TRY to run away, that no spoiled squire brat could have stuck with you in the streets; you know them too well," someone told her quietly. The others nodded, and she went on, "She says you're trying to escape you past."

Kai froze. "Abandon my past?" she repeated dully. She couldn't believe that her best friend would think so low of her; like Danai thought that she was ashamed of her life on the streets! "She really said that?" she asked, not even seeing their nods.

"That's why you need to come back," Hedi said, taking advantage of the moment to grab her wrists and pull her to the door. Hedi put her hand on the doorknob, when suddenly there came a knock.

"Kai? It's just me, Lalasa."

Hedi instantly snatched her hand back from the knob, as if had been burned. They turned to the window on the other side of the room, Hedi still clasping Kai's arm like she thought that Kai wouldn't want to go home. Kai almost sighed as everyone darted between the precariously-stacked piles on the floor and made it to the opposite side without anything tipping over. She had spent a lot of time on those.

Hedi finally released Kai then. Kai was in no indecision; she had heard that her friend thought she was abandoning her and this was her chance to leave. Yes, she had seen that all the people here weren't as menacing and foreboding as rumors claimed, and no, she didn't completely hate Kel or Faleron, but this was her chance to go back to her former life, and to her there was no problem in the deciding.

No, the problem came as Lalasa continued to call out from the hall. Kai looked regretfully at the door as she realized what Lalasa would think when she discovered that Kai was gone. Of course, then anyone who may have a grudge for whatever stupid reason against her could be safely cleared, as they were all squires and Faleron had said that he had classes all morning. Lalasa would know that Kai had left of her own will, wouldn't she?

Kai had no more time to think as everyone except for herself and Hedi had descended out through the window with her bags and was waiting on the ground.

"Your turn," Hedi said, pushing her forward slightly so that Kai could look down. It was a drop that was at least half again as high as she was to the ground. Kai closed her eyes, and felt another slight push from behind. "That girl's going to bring the entire castle running. Hurry up!"

Kai cautiously swung her legs over the window sill and allowed herself to drop.

Actually, "drop" is a very accurate term, as her landing could be considered less-than-graceful.   
"You know, for a dancer, you aren't that coordinated," grumbled Lora when Kai almost fell on her. Kai tried to stand, but her ankle burned like fire whenever she put weight on it.

"I think I twisted my ankle," she moaned as Hedi landed perfectly next to her.

"Lovely, well, now all we have to do is smuggle our lame maid out the gates without the guards noticing her or the fact that our costumes look nothing like the real thing," Tam, another singer, commented sarcastically. "I told you they were too frilly, Lora."

"Not helping," Kai commented sharply as she fought to stand.

"Shouldn't you be good at this kind of thing, standing on one leg?" complained Lora as she helped Kai up.

"You'd think so," Kai said, trying to regain her balance, "but sadly, no." She managed to stand with only one person supporting her, and they made their way out, luckily sneaking by the guards as they changed shifts at noon.

And that was how Kai got back to the streets...the first time.

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No, this story isn't over yet (and you were all celebrating). Well, the chapter is, do that gives you all a perfect opportunity to review! Wahoo.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Four (Wahoo)

Kai went back to her old apartment, which was in an inn so dirty and unpopular that the room hadn't been rented even in the flurry of activity of Midsummer. She was able to convince Danai by this that she really wasn't ashamed of her life on the streets; after all, who would go back to a life they hated if they had the opportunity to live in the palace, even as a maid? Kai returned to her dancing, minus the ankle that she had twisted in her unfortunate fall, and, for her, at least, the chaotic events of that very long Midsummer's Day were quickly lost in the bustle of normality.

Kel's POV

Day after Midsummer

Kel had noticed throughout class that some people seemed very distracted that day. Zhahir and Ferdon, some of Joren's other remaining friends, were making faces at one another between bouts of studious stares at the pages of notes on the table in front of them whenever the teacher happened to glance in their direction. Kel did _not_ like the expressions on their faces as they mouthed jokes to one another and attempted to contain their laughter.

Her glance quickly moved, settling instead on Faleron, who looked very thoughtful, even though she was certain that he had no idea what the teacher was saying. She hid a smile with her mask and nudged Neal, nodding at Faleron. Neal grinned openly, obviously very amused, but she couldn't imagine why. She found it odd that Faleron, who was normally so studious, could be occupied by something else. Kel wondered if it was Joren becoming a murderer, since that had clung to her mind since yesterday.

All last night she had been haunted by the sight of the dead man's body, Joren's bloody sword, and his expression of disgust as he turned away. Could he really not feel anything for the man he had killed? Wasn't he at least guilty that he had used his palace training to take advantage over the people that he was supposed to protect?

The teacher, Kel saw as she finally resumed paying attention, was waving his arms about as he shouted about a battle that had taken place at least a century ago. "Ten thousand soldiers from Tyra," he was saying, "met the Maren army where the river bended. The leader of the Marens was an experienced general from the Great War, which had taken place three years before this."

Kel didn't normally approve of daydreaming, but she found it to be necessary just now, as she had only had a little sleep last night, as she suspected many others had by their drooping eyelids and studious postures, slouched over their papers. After an exciting Midsummer, it wasn't uncommon for people to come laughing back through the halls, talking noisily or yelling goodbyes to one another, so even those who had retired early last night were tired.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kel watched as the note was passed between the four boys, each waiting until the teacher wasn't looking to fling it at the next person. Then, Ferdon misjudged his throw, and it ended on the floor, next to Neal's chair. Grinning at their murderous expressions, he picked it up while the instructor was facing the blackboard, and slowly unfolded it, watching as their faces reddened.

"Neal," Kel hissed, poking him. He read it anyway, and then passed it to her. Kel normally would have disdained doing anything so low as that, but instead, perked by recent events, her curiosity won and she peered at the messy handwriting, recognizing the first as Zhahir's by the size.

_Do you all know the plan?_ he asked on the note.

_When?_ The word was boldly written, and dark, so she figured it was Din's, one of the other boys'.

_Three days_, answered the next one, who she guessed was Ferdon.

_At that old common inn?_ _That's where we're meeting the others? _another asked, but Kel couldn't tell whose writing it was.

_The inn we followed them to, thickhead_. That comment was definitely Zhahir's.

_Then we need another plan for the others,_ Din said.

_We have a plan for_ them. _Don't worry about it and leave it to us,_ Ferdon answered. That was the last comment on the note.

Kel put it down, slightly confused. They hadn't said enough for them to have any idea what they were talking about. What were they planning? And who were the others? Who did they follow?

The bell outside tolled, signaling the end of class. They filed outside, Kel quickly hiding the note in her belt pouch, but apparently the others hadn't seen Neal pass it to her.

"Where is it, Queenscove?" demanded Ferdon.

"Where is what?" he asked innocently. Then he widened his eyes comically. "Oh you mean the note, right? I threw it away. It wasn't important, was it?"

They were all scowling at him, but Zhahir answered, "No it wasn't. Come on guys, we're leaving." The four stomped off, talking quietly.

"That was weird," commented Owen.

"We're wasting our time," Kel pointed out.

They started walking towards the courtyard, but Faleron left, saying he had to check on Kai. Kel sat with her friends, opening her notes to her homework. Or where it should have been.

"Darn. I left it on my desk," she muttered, standing. "I'll be back. I need to go get my math," she explained.

Neal grinned. "Miss Perfect left her homework? How uncharacteristic! Where would that be?"

Kel sniffed. "My desk." She walked away before they had time to think of something else to respond to that with, but she knew that when she got back there would be many jokes made, and she could guess right now that none of them would be funny.

Her room was slightly before Faleron's, but she could see Lalasa standing in his doorway, appearing to have been crying. Concerned and puzzled, Kel walked over, wondering at the oddity.

"…I got the housekeeper to open the door," the maid was saying to Faleron as Kel walked up. Seeing her, Lalasa looked like she would burst into tears again, but composed herself. "She wasn't in there," she finished to Faleron, who was also looking decidedly pale.

"Kai?" Kel asked. Lalasa nodded. "Do you think she was kidnapped…" her voice trailed off at Lalasa's expression.

"See, this morning, she had a little run-in with the Bahzar, um…Zhahir…but I helped her," she said quickly as both squires frowned. "She wasn't hurt or anything. Zhahir might have been, he tried to attack her but she was running away from him when I trapped him with a blanket," she said, blushing a little. "I told her I'd meet her here at noon…"

"Which was half an hour ago," Faleron said.

"And I got here and I knocked and knocked but nobody opened it so I called the housekeeper and she wasn't there and what if they came back and I was too late?" she cried, looking at Kel as if expecting an answer, which Kel didn't have.

"It's all right. It's not your fault," Kel said comfortingly. "Faleron, go look for some evidence to prove that Joren's friends did it." He nodded and disappeared into his room. Kel tried to console Lalasa as best as she could, and then sent her out to the market with some money to buy something for herself, and giving her the rest of the day free. Kel knew that she wouldn't spend it, Lalasa would simply hide the money away with the rest of her wages, but she also was aware that Lalasa had other friends outside the palace gates who were probably much better at cheering people up than she was. Her maid sniffed a little and left.

Kel went into Faleron's room, wondering if Zhahir or whoever else was involved had left vestige of their presence. She found the other squire staring into the smaller chamber where Kai had previously slept. Kel stopped, studying the bare walls and shelves.

"She left," Faleron said, turning to her with angry, flashing eyes. "By herself. No kidnappers."

"You don't know that," Kel said dubiously. "Her things may have been taken too if she was kidnapped."

"Maybe, but the window's open, and look," he said, pointing to where there was a piece of cloth caught on the rough sill. It was thin and flimsy, a cheap type of cloth commonly worn on the streets only if you could afford no better. But it was too bright to be anyone but a performer's attire.

"Maybe she did leave," Kel admitted reluctantly. Then the entire situation hit her. This commoner; though she normally shuddered at judging people by their classes, she was too mad right now to stop herself; had been offered protection by them, and instead of being thankful, she had run away. Later Kel would admit that most of her negative feelings had been spurred by Lalasa's reaction and Kel's own guilt at having left her and the possibility that she may have been stolen from the very place she was supposed to be safer. Now, however, she felt herself snap. Swearing in Yaman under her breath, she whirled around and left.

She stormed through the halls, holding back more outbreaks of swearing until she had calmed slightly. Then she realized that she had never gotten the homework that she had originally left to get, and had to go all the way back to her room to get it. Muttering, she turned, almost colliding with Neal.

"Whoa, what's wrong with you?" he asked. "Did Joren come back?"

"No," she replied, slightly annoyed again as she pushed past him to return to the squires' section of the palace.

"Ok," Neal said, jogging to catch up with her. "Then what's wrong?"

"That street dancer from yesterday…left," she snapped.

"Is that it?" Neal asked calmly, stopping. Kel turned to stare at him. "She's a free person Kel. Even if you think she might be better off here that out there, you can't just keep her hostage."

Kel started. "Is that…oh darn, I hate when it when you're right. It's just that it got Lalasa all upset because she thought Kai was kidnapped by Zhahir or someone and she was blaming herself. Oh, I feel so guilty," she said quietly.

"You were just trying to help," said Neal.

"All right, I have to go back for my math assignment. Want to go talk to Faleron since you're in such a helpful mood? He looked a little…angry when I left."

"Like you?" Neal teased. "Finally showing some emotion."

Kel felt her lips slid into a smile and sternly ordered them back down. It would give her friends years of enjoyment if she started letting her mask slip too often.

"Well, if it will make you happier," Neal declared dramatically, throwing an arm around her shoulder, "Then I will go speak to him. But he won't listen to me anyway, so it doesn't matter."

Kel laughed. "If no one around here listened to you, we'd all be walking around in silence!"

Neal frowned. "Is that some elaborate way of saying I talk too much?" he demanded.

"No," Kel replied earnestly, shaking her head. They started walking down the hallway.

"I should hope not," Neal announced, "For it would not do for you to be spreading lies about me!"

At that, Kel simply could not keep her mask up any longer and succumbed to laughter.

* * *

No that was not it! Even if you insist that you were not celebrating, I know what you were all thinking. Too bad. The story will go on! Ok, that was weird; I shall refrain from using further phrases like that (hmm…kind of self-contradicting. O well) Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers, can you believe it? Fifteen reviews! Wow, I feel like…sugar! Sorry, it's a little late and I just had some chocolate. I should go get some more... Oh yes, stay on topic. What was I going to say? …Oh yeah…Review please! It may be life-or-death! (or...it may not, but you shouldn't take that chance!) 


	6. Chapter 6

(A/N. Ok, it may seem like Kel and Kia may both seem a little ooc here, but bear with me, because hopefully it'll make sense in the end. And it's very long; I'm not quite sure how that happened.)

* * *

Kel's POV

Everything settled down a bit after that. Kel and Faleron came to an agreement that day that neither of them would go after Kai, since, if she left, they couldn't just drag her back here. Kel felt slightly guilty, but after that talk with Neal, she realized that she couldn't do anything, even if something told her that Kai would never be able to hold her own against Zhahir or anyone else if they went against her, and that someone would eventually find where she lived in the city.

Forgotten by Kel, the note from class that day remained in her belt pouch, crumbled into a ball and then flattened under the few coins that she found necessary to keep with her, just in case she needed money. In fact, it wasn't until two days later, during their break in the courtyard, that she was reminded of it.

"They look way too suspicious," said Neal, commenting on Ferdon, Zhahir, and the others, who were lounging about, talking quietly and stealing glances at their group. "Did you ever figure out what that note meant, Kel?"

Kel looked up from her history book, momentarily confused, and asked, "What note?" Then it dawned on her, and she replied sheepishly, "No, I forgot I had it." She dug into her pouch, and eventually found it, and reread it.

The note:

_Do you all know the plan?_ He (Zhahir) asked on the note.

_When?_ The word was boldly written, and dark, so she figured it was Din's, one of the other boys'.

_Three days_, answered the next one, who she guessed was Ferdon.

_At that old common inn?_ _That's where we're meeting the others? _another asked, but Kel couldn't tell whose writing it was.

_The inn we followed them to, thickhead_. That comment was definitely Zhahir's.

_Then we need another plan for the others,_ Din said.

_We have a plan for_ them. _Don't worry about it and leave it to us,_ Ferdon answered. That was the last comment on the note.

Kel's eyes widened, as she suddenly understood at least part of what was written. She thrust the crumbled paper at Faleron, who took it with a look of confusion. There was a moment of silence, as Faleron read and everyone else competed to look over his shoulder. Then Faleron threw it down. "They followed us?" he exclaimed. Owen scrambled to get the paper from where it had fallen onto the ground.

"Quiet!" Kel ordered, gesturing at the crowd of boys only a few feet away, who were now openly watching their proceedings. "Yes, that looks like what it means. Which means they know where Kai lives. Which means that they're planning something!"

"She left and you want to go save her?" Faleron managed to demand without shouting.

Kel paused for a second. Legally, she wasn't responsible for Kai, as opposed to Faleron, who was supposedly her employer. Kel had seen the expression in Faleron's eyes when he thought that she had been kidnapped. She considered for a second, then gave into temptation, grinning evilly. "I don't want _us_ to save her. _You _go after her."

Every one of their friends stopped their separate conversations to listen to what was being said. Faleron paled slightly. "Why?" he asked, obviously trying to control his voice.

"Well, began Neal, catching on, "The palace records say that she's _your_ maid. Why should we go?"

"But…" Faleron sputtered, glancing between them.

"But what?" put in Owen, also grinning. "Don't shirk your duty."

"What! You want me to wander around in the streets until I find where we may have been Midsummer-if she's still at the same inn-force her to comeback, miraculously make it through the city without being killed by her friends, and then do it again when she runs away tonight? That's idiotic!"

Kel hesitated; he was right. "All right; good point. So…don't force her," she said simply with a shrug. He was staring at her, so she explained very slowly and carefully, like she was speaking to a particularly slow child, "Faleron, if you don't want to drag her through the city, then convince her to come back and then she'll pack up and leave with you and then she won't run away again tonight." He opened his mouth to say something, but she interrupted him. "Think about it!" she pleaded softly. "If she stays there, then they know where she is and they'll just go and murder her in her sleep tonight! Even if she moved, how long do you think it would take for them to find her? A week, two maybe? Even a month? They'd still find her eventually and then she'll be dead. Are you honestly willing to condemn her by inaction?"

"No," he answered reluctantly. "Fine. But you're coming with me."

"No I'm not," she said, her grin slipping through her mask again. She pointed at the abandoned history book that lay on the ground. "I have homework to do tonight. I didn't have time to do it during our break."

"Well, someone's coming too," Faleron declared, looking around hopefully.

"Why?" asked one of the other squires nearby. "We know that they wouldn't send in more than one person just to kill some street girl. Sorry," he said quickly to Kel, whose mask had suddenly snapped on.

"He's right though," Owen commented quickly. "Whoever they send would probably be inexperienced, and Faleron could handle one person. If worst comes to worst," he added hastily at Kel's glare.

"If you get there early, then you won't meet anyone, and you can both just leave," Kel finished firmly. "If you leave after dinner then you should have an hour before dark and they wouldn't try anything until at least full dark, so you'll have plenty of time."

"Fine," he agreed wearily, as if deciding that it wasn't worth arguing over.

Kel smiled in satisfaction, wondering when she had become such a speech-making, leader-like person. She shrugged it off mentally and concentrated on her homework.

Kai had spent the day wandering around the market with her friends, who had all managed to somehow get out of their duties. Kai herself had been granted the day off because of her twisted ankle and was still on crutches. The streets were crowded, as there were still tourists left over from the Midsummer celebrations, so Kai had a little difficulty in maneuvering through the allies, but it was worth it to be with her friends again. It scared her how much this day was like Midsummer, where she had done the very same thing with Danai, resurfacing her fear that someone would find her here, but she quickly brushed it off.

She got back to her room at the inn just before dark fell on the city, and was shocked when she entered to find someone very familiar sitting on her bed.

"How'd you get in here?" she demanded.

"Your locks weren't much of a challenge," Faleron said, straight-faced as he held up a few lockpicks and she gaped like an idiot. Of course, she had seen them before; she had friends in the rogue. She just was surprised that someone like Faleron would have some _and _know how to use them. But, she considered, he was also telling the truth that her locks were extremely old and probably could be easily forced without picks, but she normally had no need to worry about thieves; anyone that she didn't know personally wouldn't bother. After all, what kind of a street dancer would have anything of enough value to make it worth the risks of getting caught?

She hobbled in on her crutches, carefully closing the door so that one of her neighbors would know that she had a noble in the room. She shuddered mentally at the thought of the rumors that that would cause.

"What'd you do to your leg?" asked Faleron, obviously trying to make conversation, but there was a trace of concern in his voice.

"Twisted it falling out of a window," she answered with a wry grin. She expected him to get mad at that, to start shouting or demand to know why she left, or even a lecture as some nobles might. Instead, he just frowned, earning a similar reaction from her. Why wasn't he mad? "Why are you here?" she had to ask. She hoped he wouldn't try and get her to come back, though she knew that that could be the only possible reason for his presence.

"Because," he began slowly, taking out a very crumpled piece of paper, "We found this. It was Zhahir's and some of Joren's other old friends." He handed it to her, as if expecting her to read it. She almost shook her head at his ignorance. Where in Mithros did he think she learned how to read?

"I can't read this," she informed him, thrusting it back. "How can I trust whatever you tell me is on there?"

"Do you trust anyone?" he demanded.

She grinned from where she was leaning against the wall, shaking her head. "I trust my friends."

"Can any of them read?" he asked. She looked up, surprised at what she saw, or what she _thought_ she saw, in his eyes.

"I know someone who can, but we can't go all the way there after dark. He'll be busy anyway."

"Well," he sighed, getting up, "I can't convince you until someone reads it, and we only have another hour."

"Until what?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'd tell you," he answered with a grin as he walked through the door, "But you wouldn't believe me."

"Where are you going?" she demanded, hobbling with her crutches after him.

"_We_ are going to see your friend."

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into," she warned. "You're a noble, going out into the city streets after dark without an escort. I am not pulling favors for you."

"You won't need to. I have a weapon; I'll be fine. Now, where are we going?"

"You know the Dancing Dove?" she asked, resigned.

The bar was more crowded than she had ever seen it in the daytime; she never went out alone at night. Immediately as they enter, five people jumped on their feet, daggers drawn.

"Stop! Ver, do you always have to overreact?" she demanded, calling to one of the nearest standing.

He grinned in relief. "Oh, it's only you, Kai. You brought a noble?" His grin turned malicious as he glanced at Faleron.

"He's a friend," she said, jerking her head to indicate her companion. Everyone sat again, and it was only because Kai had been here on numerous other occasions that she was able to notice that the atmosphere wasn't quite as jolly and happy as it normally was.

She led the way back to the farthest table in the room, where sat a man with a tanned face and hazel eyes who was clearly someone important. The entire table grew quiet as they approached, and the man stood up.

"Your majesty," Kai said, curtseying out of tradition.

"What are you doing?' hissed Faleron, who was trying not to stare at the king of the thieves.

"Bow, idiot," she hissed back, and straightened with a smile.

"Kai? The dancer right? Haven't seen you around here lately," commented the man, indicating a chair. "And you're one of Neal's friends, correct? Faleron?"

They sat, and Kai winced as Faleron demanded, "How do you know Neal? Or my name?" He paused, then said suddenly, "I remember you! You're the baron of Pirates' Swoop!"

"Sharp one there, aren't you?" George asked with a laugh. "Yes," he called to the room, which was even quieter than before as everyone turned to look at them, "that's what I'm called now. Go back to yer meals, would ya?" Kai thought she heard him mutter, "Nobles and their stupid titles." Then he looked at her again, asking, "So what brings you here, at night, with some crutches and no escort?"

"What do you call him?" she asked, carefully keeping any annoyance from her voice. "Actually, you're the only one I know who can read."

George's eyebrows shot up. "And what'd you do during all you classes, lad?" he asked Faleron, who shook his head and explained that Kai wouldn't trust him. "So, now," George said conversationally, accepting the paper, "You went out at night with crutches and a noble that you don't trust so you could come to a bar full of thieves so I could read you a little piece of paper because you wouldn't believe what he said?"

"No, he wouldn't tell me what it said because he said I wouldn't believe what he said. I think," Kai said, feeling a headache. "But it was his idea."

"I take it that this is a very important piece of paper?" George asked doubtfully, fingering the crumpled, dirty, torn page in his hand.

"Yes it is," answered Faleron, "Very important."

"Fine," George said, standing. "Why don't we go up to my room then. And you," he said to Faleron, "Owe me a favor."

"Why me?" he complained as the thief led them past the dim bar to the hallway past.

"_She_ doesn't want to be here," he answered, nodding at Kai, who was talking to one of the waitresses before quickly catching up, tripping over her crutches.

"I heard that," she warned, straightening with a scowl. "And it's been a while since I've been back here," she said, surveying the large room with a slight smile.

George led them up the stairs, closing the door to a very plain-looking inn room behind them. "Now, before I tell you what's on this, I want to hear everything. _Everything,_" he warned as they glanced uncertainly at one another.

* * *

A/N's Wow that was long. Thanks to everyone who reviewed.

**Eveiveneg: **Umm…thanks, I think. Does that happen often? I think you win the award for 'most original review' Congrats! (Ok, so I only have 17 reviews to choose from, but that's not important. There'd be more if more people review… and then you could even get an award too! Don't get too excited now.)

(Hope everyone can take a hint)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter (wait…hold on…) Seven (right? I hope so)

_George led them up the stairs, closing the door to a very plain-looking inn room behind them. "Now, before I tell you what's on this, I want to hear everything. Everything," he warned as they glanced uncertainly at one another.__  
_

Kai stared at Faleron until he started uncertainly, "Well, on Midsummer, that is, three days ago, we…"

"Who's we?" asked George, interrupting out of necessity.

"Me and Kel and Neal and some of the other squires were walking around the market that day, and Kel left to go buy something, a bracelet for her maid, I think. She didn't come back, so Neal and Owen left to see if there was a problem, and Owen came running back, saying that one of the other squire, Joren of Stonemountain, had killed someone and Kel and Neal were chasing after him." George snorted, and Faleron agreed, "I know. Brilliant plan.

"Anyway," he continued, "We followed them-it wasn't hard, they left a trail of over-turned carts and frustrated jugglers- and we found them at a stand-off behind the performers' curtain…"

And so he told the king their entire story, and then Kai told her half, and at the end, George sighed, sitting back from his position on the bed. "Quite a tale," he commented.

Kai herself was still debating about the half that Faleron had told. She knew, somehow, that he had left something out of his part, but she didn't know what. Also, how did she know that it wasn't the part about the note, which was really the most important part of the entire story? If that was true, then she could trust whatever he said was on the note, because it only supported what he had said before. But what if he was lying? Then if she believed him but his whole story wasn't true, then the note would only lead her farther from her home for no reason. And something else was still bugging her.

"Why are you doing this?" she demanded to Faleron, who gave her a very confused look.

"Doing what?"

"Why are you trying so hard to get me to go back to the palace? You could find another maid anywhere."

Faleron laughed. "You think I _want_ a maid? I was fine without one… Actually never wanted one before, but Kel asked me to hire you so you'd have an excuse to be in the palace."

"All right…" Kai said, trying to find the loophole in this. Nobles never did anything having to do with the poor if they didn't have some sort of a motive behind them. "So why does she care?"

George watched the proceeding with interest. "Because..." Faleron paused. "I don't really know, but you can ask her," he said with a trace of hope in his voice. She didn't respond. "So…?" Faleron asked.

"So what?" Kai replied. "You dragged me all the way here so George could read the paper, and now you just want to leave?"

The king of thieves shook his head. "Ay, it says what he told you it did. And I'd not suggest going back for your things. Actually," he peered at the dark window, "You probably would be better to just leave right now and go straight back to the palace. You'll be safe on the streets." He hesitated, then told them, "I'm leaving tomorrow; if you need help, send a pigeon to Pirates' Swoop."

"You're leaving?" Kai asked, disbelieving. "But you're the king of the rogue! You can't leave!"

George laughed. "I'm the old king. There's a new one, but I think he's out today on business. They all just call me that for tradition. Got a wife, you know," he said with a wink at Faleron, "and she wouldn't let me _live_ out here for all the iron in Scanra. This is just a Midsummer visit. Now you both hurry back before it gets too dark to see. Then you're in trouble," he warned, opening the door. Faleron grabbed Kai's arm, separating her from the supportive wall, without which she was forced to grab at her crutches, miss, and pull Faleron with her as she fell.

"For a dancer, you really aren't that graceful," Faleron observed, standing up and handing her a crutch.

"So I've been told," Kai retorted, pushing herself up. "Funny really, both times I fell, but the people who remarked on _my_ lack of grace always seem to end up on the ground with me."

"Lovely story lass, but Mithros flees and you still aren't any closer to the palace." George beckoned at the open door and they left.

"Does it seem like we're unwanted?" Kai asked sarcastically as they left.

"You think?" Faleron replied with mock concern as he held the door to the street ajar for her.

"Yes, I do," she said firmly, wondering why the king of thieves had been so determined to get her to the palace. She had always known that nobles did not act without hidden motives, but George was a commoner like her, wasn't he? Yes, he was a noble and all, but that didn't change that he had grown up on the streets, as she had. So what was he doing, and how far could she trust him, or Faleron, or Kel, or anyone? Suddenly all the amount of people who had started to take an interest in her for unobvious reasons was beginning to scare her.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and I hope this answered the question of why George was still at the Dancing Dove. Kel is a first-year squire, so that would make Neal Alanna's squire, which is how George knew him personally. That would make Faleron in his second year as a squire…but I'm not sure which year Joren would be in if he hadn't committed murder and run. Maybe second, too. Umm…yes, there was also a BIG mistake in one of the previous chapters, and I'll give a thousand bucks to anyone who can find it. (Don't you love Monopoly money?) Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Review please! 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

They stood in front of the palace gates, the sky having already turned a dark blue in color; it was almost black, except for the tiny stars imbedded deeply into the shadows high above. Kai nervously fingered her shirt, wondering how the others that she vaguely recalled from three days ago would react to her return. It's not like I'm here voluntarily, she thought, I'm lucky that I really don't mind this place all that much.

As soon as the words remained exposed in her mind, she stopped that thought immediately. Why wasn't she angrier? This wasn't her home; her home was out on the streets where she belonged, among her own kind, as an equal; where she had grown up. The place where she knew, was familiar with. Not here, among these strange nobles, as a _maid_, where she never knew if the person in the hallway would attack her or not. On the streets, she had always been able to tell a thief by their clothes: either overly shabby and ragged, or too elaborately fancy for a person who clearly was not a noble.

But for some reason, she had tried to escape, even when given the chance; and she was certain that, if she had run, Faleron would not have come after her. Why was she still her? she demanded of herself. Why hadn't she left when she had the chance? Whoever was after her would still find her, and there way no way that Faleron or Lalasa or anyone else would always be there to help her. She gazed uncertainly up at the spiral towers of the palace in front of her, wondering what had gotten her here, and when she would finally be able to leave.

"Kai, come on," Faleron said, having finished an argument with the guard, who reluctantly opened the gate. The expression in his dark eyes was teasing, as he had caught her staring off into space. She shook her head and followed him through, very suddenly certain of why she was here, and not liking it one bit.

"Finally!" the girl who Kai recognized as Kel exclaimed once they were through the entrance. "Was there traffic or something?"

"'Or something'," Faleron answered. "Did you eat?" he asked, turning to Kai. She nodded. "Fine, I have to go catch the cooks before they leave the kitchen."

"Didn't you leave after dinner?" Kel asked, voice slightly tinged with curiosity.

"No," Faleron said. "Remember? Neal saw Zhahir leaving early after his knightmaster gave him the night off, so Neal told me that I had to 'miss a meal for the good of the lady', or something like that."

"And you believed him?" Kel snorted. Faleron stared at her for a second before stalking away, muttering something about very sharp knives and stupid friends who couldn't keep their mouths shut. "Well, we'll just have to keep him away from anything with a blade, won't we?" It took Kai a minute to realize that this was a joke, so she only smiled.

"Good luck with that, lady," she said, staring around her and wondering if she would have to ask Kel how to get to her room again. The other was looking at the wall behind her for so long that Kai was worried that it had burst into flames and had to turn to assure herself, that, yes, the wall appeared completely normal. She was about to ask if something was wrong, when the door crashed open and someone else came in at a run, waving a piece of paper in the air.

"Kel! Did Faleron get back yet? He was supposed to figure out my history paper!" He quickly scanned the room as he spoke. "Where is he?" he asked, finally stopping in front of them.

"He went to the kitchens, I think," Kel answered, sounding distracted. "Oh, Owen, could you take Kai to her rooms first? I have to go find somebody." With that, she strode off, her usually emotionless face creased into worry.

"Oh, yes, you're the new maid or something that they keep talking about, right?" Owen asked.

She guessed that maybe he was always as overexcited as he had seemed a moment ago. She could vaguely remember that he had been fairly energetic when she had met him for all of two minutes, but she had assumed then that it was just Midsummer. Then Kai realized that she was supposed to answer him, so she nodded, not quite sure how to reply to that. Luckily, her companion was already walking toward one of the doors inside, while at the same time managing to find enough for them to talk about, which was quite fortunate, as Kai had trouble enough simply keeping up with him on crutches.

"Would you happen to know anything about the First Scanran War?" he asked hopefully. She shook her head, and he started talking again. "Well, I do, but Professor Puffy-cheeks doesn't believe that, so he's making me write a big long essay on that! Can you believe that! Of course, his real name isn't Puffy-cheeks, we just call him that-not to his face, of course-because when he gets mad his face gets all red and his cheeks puff out. But the math professor…"

And so it went on, with Kai reluctantly learning all the little bits of information that she never wanted to know about the various teachers, mages, nobles, servants, craftsmen, ambassadors, visitors, or anyone else who happened to be living in the palace. But she didn't complain, for the conversation never lapsed into silence with Owen talking. He seemed to be able to find something to say about everyone, even random people walking in the halls late at night.

"And there's the nobles' wings, and next to them are the pages' quarters, and finally, to your left, you will see a door. This is the area specifically set aside for squires and the knights unfortunately stuck with them. I believe yours is the thirtieth door down on the right." She stared at him a moment, wondering how he had memorized the entire wing, until he grinned. "I live in the pages' quarters now, but I'm down here enough to know where everything is." She was still unsatisfied with that answer, and opened her mouth to ask something else, then decided that if he went into another answer he might not be so simple about it and then she'd be here for hours.

So instead she nodded, hobbling off as she peered into the darkness between the torches on the walls to see the numbers on the doors. Number ten, eleven, twelve… fifteen… seventeen… She hurried a little, seeing how far the hallway in front of her stretched, until she finally came to number thirty and went inside, recognizing the room she had stayed in that one night. Now, however, it was empty, dark, and made her need to stifle the feeling of homesickness rising from her stomach.

Kai sat on the bed, fingering the worn blankets, thinking. Here she was again, in this same room, but this time there would be no leaving. She wondered what her friends were doing right now; Danai would probably be with Lora or Hedi, in one of their rooms, or in some inn. She should be there with them, but instead, here she sat, unsure of what to do, or where to go. It was late anyway, she decided, and lay down, wondering how Danai would react to the news that she was gone again. If whoever told her said it tactfully enough, she supposed that Danai might not be too upset, but knowing the George that everyone on the street saw everyday, she doubted that Danai would ever forgive her.

A knock on the door shocked her out of her thoughts, and she stilled for a second, wondering whom it was. Then, very slowly, she rose and answered it. Lalasa stood out in the hall, simply staring at her for a second, and then stated simply, "You're back."

Kai tried a small smile, failing miserably, and replied, "Yes." Unable to find more to say, there was an awkward silence while they both avoided the others' glance. "Want to come in?" Kai asked eventually.

Lalasa nodded noncommittally, stepping inside. The silence lengthened, tension filling the air as Kai desperately racked her brains for something, anything to say. "Why'd you leave?" Lalasa blurted out finally, but met her eyes, demanding an answer.

"Well," Kai said uncertainly, sitting on her bed before reluctantly launching into her version of the tale yet another time. Lalasa listened to the entire thing without a comment, never nodding or showing any sort of reaction. When Kai was finished, she said, "That's why I had to leave, and I know that it was probably awful to you when I wasn't here, since I know what everyone probably thought first, and I know you probably can't forgive me, but could you accept my apology?" She finally stopped babbling, and waited for some kind of reaction, even getting up and storming out of the room would be better than the blank look the other girl was giving her now.

"Do you know that we all thought you were _dead_?" she asked after a long silence, obviously fighting to control her voice. "Or kidnapped! Kel was blaming herself if you were in trouble! Faleron looked like he wanted to kill Zhahir when he found out! I thought you had just been…_taken, _and then they told me, no, you had just run away…like some little child who hadn't gotten her way!" he voice rose dangerously. "They offered to protect you! It wasn't their fault that someone was after you! Then you just up and left, without a word to _anyone_, because some of your friends turned up on your doorstep? Why didn't you wait…or just tell me? We wouldn't have been angry that you wanted to leave! Or go find your friend…Gods, she could have just come _here!_" Lalasa stood, eyes sparkling suspiciously.

"And then, when Kel discovered you were going to be killed tonight, she went through all the trouble to convince Faleron to go in you in the middle of the city, and you didn't believe Faleron when he told you?" she continued at a shout. "Why couldn't you at least _trust_ him after everything? _He went back for you_ and you couldn't believe what he said! Open your eyes, Kai! You can trust these people! Haven't they proved that?"

She stopped finally, breathing slightly harder after her loud outburst. Kai guessed that she wasn't the type of person who normally upbraided others for their behavior, which only made her feel worse as everything Lalasa had said sunk in. Kai looked at her fellow maid, wondering what to say. "I'm sorry Lalasa."

"Don't tell just me," she said quietly, but expressing her anger in those four words. "Tell the others who actually cared that you left." She stood at the door. "I think Faleron will be back before the eighth bell rings. You won't see Kel for a while though." and with those parting words, she left.

Kel sat back onto her bed heavily, wondering what to do now. As if on cue, outside, the eighth bell tolled the hour. Kai got up slowly, and walked into the room attached to hers to wait.

It wasn't long, actually. Kai wondered how Lalasa had known when Faleron would get back, but it was slightly unnerving that two minutes later, he unlocked the door, not bothering to hide the surprise on his face when he saw her waiting by the window.

"Planning on leaving again?" he asked, his tone light, as if he were joking, and it was only because she listened hard that she noticed the slight edge to his voice.

"No," she replied carefully, involuntarily moving away from the window. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked absently, searching through a drawer for something.

She stifled her annoyance that he wasn't even paying attention as she apologized, and replied, "Everything. Running away, then not believing you, and not trusting you…"

He winced. "Lalasa was here, wasn't she?"

"Yes, and it's not her fault. She was right about all this. I did act like a spoilt little child."

"Funny," he commented, "She never used the word 'spoilt' when I was listening."

"Are you even taking this seriously?" she demanded as he turned to rummage through another drawer.

"Yes, I am, But Lalasa may take some things a little too seriously sometimes, and you shouldn't feel that bad. I might have done the same thing if one of my friends showed up suddenly."

She smiled, for some reason, feeling much better that he had said that. "What are you looking for?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Have plans for tomorrow?" he asked instead of an answer.

"Not unless you give me something to do," she replied, slightly confused. She was kind of obligated as his maid to clean his things, wasn't she?

He turned. "Didn't you say something about daggers before?"

"Why?" She still had no idea where he was going with this.

"May I see them?" he asked slowly, like he was talking to a child.

"I'm not going to kill you in your sleep or anything," she said quickly.

"I know," he replied, exasperated. "May I please see you daggers." It wasn't a question. She reached into her boot, pulling out the first of hers and handing it to him. "Is this all?" he asked critically, examining the worn handle and blunt edge.

"No," she said slowly, carefully undoing her other three that she happened to be wearing that day.

"These aren't in the best of condition," he commented eventually, implying that this was a big understatement. He indicated a pair of them, obviously very old and used. "These ones were alright, once. The others look too cheap to be of any use."

"They weren't like this when I got them," she explained patiently. "Those were a gift…from my mother. The others were bought on the street."

"Where did she get these?" he demanded suddenly.

"I don't know," she said absently, thinking. "I was really little when she died. I was only four."

"And they let a four-year old run around with a blade?" he asked, suspicion filling his voice.

She looked up. "No, Mistress Beecher took them away 'til I was twelve. I really don't know _where_ my mother got them, but Mistress Beecher would _not_ lie about something like that. What's wrong?" she demanded.

"_What's wrong_ is that your mother was thief!"

"No she wasn't!" Kai refuted, voice raised slightly.

"Kai," Faleron said, trying to keep his voice low. "Look, here, the canvas over the handle hid the crest. Kai, there is a family crest on here! From a noble family! She could have only gotten this is she stole it from a noble!"

"How do you know?" Kai demanded, trying to defend her mothers' ghost. "Maybe she found them somewhere! Maybe someone gave them to her!" Her protests sounded weak in her own ears, and she stared at the floor, wondering why no one had ever told her what her mother had done. Mistress Beecher, who had practically _raised_ her, had always claimed that her mother had been the most talented singer in the city at one time, which, as she looked back now, had probably been only fairy tales, night-time stories to tell her to make her go to sleep. She had most likely made it all up, everything that Kai had believed for so long about her past, to cover up the dark truths.

But why hadn't someone told her? her inner voice wailed. If her mother had really been a thief, then George would have certainly have heard of her, and, knowing him, he probably knew that Kai was her daughter. Why hadn't he told her? Was this, somehow, why he had wanted her to come here, to find out the truth? No, he couldn't have known, it must be a simple coincidence, she insisted.

"Kai?" Faleron was saying. "Kai? Are you alright?"

"Yes," she said slowly, shaking her head, "I'm fine. What were you saying?"

"I was saying, that I have tomorrow morning off, since my knightmaster, Lord Geard, is going to a meeting, and you," he said, handing her a much newer-looking pair of daggers, "Are going to learn how to use these."

* * *

Ok, so that was long to make up for the last really sort chapter. Sorry for the delay and congrats to Scottish Wish, who noticed the mistake in previous chapters (gotta fix that), yes, Kel and her friends were in a class together as squires with Owen, who should have been a page. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and now that there's another chapter, you can tell me exactly what you think: Lalasa's a little ooc, but is anyone else? Have you seen the telltale signs of flying monkeys raining down from the sky? Will complete chaos ensue? What do you think? (End creepy rant here) 


	9. Chapter 9

Ok, really sorry for the delay. Yes, I know it's vacation and there should be like four chapters out by now, but, oddly, when given free time, I do absolutely nothing, and when I really should be doing my homework or some other stupid-yet-mandatory thing, I'm sitting at the computer. Oh, wait, for Mina, who enjoys finding errors in my writing (don't get me wrong, cc is welcome, I just like being sarcastic to my friends; and I know her personally so I can do that), yes, the word "swearing" from one of the previous chapters shall be duly replaced by the word "cursing" (…as soon as I can figure out how to edit. Does anyone out there know?)

* * *

Chapter Nine

It was very early when Kai woke up, just as the fifth bell of the morning tolled outside. She rose, uselessly combing her hair with her fingers and resolving to find a comb very soon before settling for a messy braid that she carelessly rolled into an even sloppier bun. She hated her hair. If she wasn't a performer, and doing so would have led to social abandonment, she would have cut it all off, or at least to some more preferable length. As it was, Danai had strictly forbid her to do so the one time that Kai had complained about it to her, an action sorely regretted by Kai, as she was now berated good naturedly whenever her hair got so long that she recklessly chopped off a hand length or so.

Thinking of her friends brought back a sense of loneliness so strong that Kai climbed on top of her bed, cautiously balancing on her one good leg as she had been taught when she was little, and wrestled the small window open, and, ironically, breathing the perfumed scents of the palace gardens just outside was not at all as comforting as she had hoped. If she was home right now, there'd be the smells of street vendors through the window, or the odors of horses in the winding allies, or the sharp taint of many people in too small of an area as they pushed their way through the crowds, or…

Stop it, she told herself fiercely, turning to jump off her precarious perch on her bed. Too late she realized that her sleeve had caught on the rough stone of the windowsill, and heard it tear as she tripped over her blanket and steadied herself against the opposite wall, which, lucky for her, was not very far away in the narrow room.

She nearly cursed when she examined the shredded fabric of her shirt. It, like every other garment that she owned, was specifically made for street dancers, and, accordingly, was thin, cheap, tight, but brightly dyed. Therefore, it had not taken much for the material to be torn along the elbow, but, even so, she loathed the possibility of wearing something else, especially what she would get here: a maid's uniform. They were starch white, conservatively cut, and extremely uncomfortable, not to mention that that would be admitting to everyone that she was simply another palace worker, not a girl from the streets who was just here for a few weeks at the most. Wearing palace clothes would be, to her, declaring failure, announcing to all her old friends that she was no longer one of them. Keeping her appearance the same, down to her most un-maid-like hairstyle, bold attire, and cheap bangles on her wrists and ankles was her own way of keeping herself _her,_ staying unchanged no matter how long she was here, and was also reminding everyone that she was not just another servant, and that she would do as she liked.

Awkwardly hopping down onto her bed, she rubbed her ankle, which she had accidentally put weight on when she lost her balance and was now taking revenge.

Someone knocked on the door, and, at her call, Faleron came in, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he looked around. "What happened?" he demanded.

Puzzled, she wondered what he was talking about, her eyes involuntarily following his gaze around the small room. "Nothing." She shrugged.

"Then why in Mithros are you awake at this cursed hour…_again_? I thought you were being kidnapped or something."

Against her will, she winced. "I umm…tripped."

"Off what?"

"My bed," she mumbled.

"Now why were you standing on your bed with a twisted ankle?" he asked in a mock-condescending tone, obviously hiding a grin.

"Never mind," she said with fake aloofness. "Do you know where I can get a needle or something?"

"I don't know," he answered, shaking his head, "If you're going to go performing dangerous stunts without your crutches and then expect me to find you needles…." He made it sound like it was the most outrageous request he had ever heard, she thought wryly. He finally grinned, and said, "I think you can borrow some from Lalasa. Just don't go doing things like that again."

She glanced up at the tone of his voice, wondering if she imagined the concern she heard there.

"Maids don't grow on trees," he commented at her look. His dark eyes were teasing; hers yearned to be rolled, but she quickly suppressed the urge.

"Wow, you make me feel so looked-after."

Faleron yawned. "Well, on the positive side of things, I think you've beaten the palace staff in waking up."

This time she did roll her eyes. "No I didn't. I bet you everyone is already awake, they just don't happened to be rushing here to clean the floors." She fussed with her sleeve, wondering where she could get a pin to keep it in one piece until she could somehow figure out how to sew it shut.

"I bet they aren't awake because no one in their right mind would be up this early," he countered quickly. "And, you could just get a new shirt that isn't half-ruined from the head housekeeper. They're free for everyone," he said, as if that would be the deciding factor.

"Yes, and you could also go walk around the streets in Bazhir robes, but I don't think that you will." She hardly even noticed that they were joking again, like old friends, and that her tone was hardly servile.

"You know, if you start talking to nobles like that, you won't like what comes of it," he warned. "Especially if you do it dressed like that."

"What's wrong with this?" she demanded.

"You look exactly like the guards just pulled you off the streets."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "And you would prefer…"

"I don't…that's not what…no one…" he stuttered. She was slightly shocked at the way he took the simple question, then realized how it must have sounded to him. "It's just not the best way to be _in hiding_ if anyone who's looking for you can find you that easily," Faleron answered finally.

" 'That easily'?" she repeated. "I never thought I was supposed to be hiding. Really, if no one thinks to look for me in the palace, or that other squire I ran into before…"

"Zhahir," he supplied helpfully.

"…doesn't tell them, then I don't think that my not dressing like a maid will be all that important."

" 'Never give your enemy any advantage that you can prevent,'" Faleron quoted. He yawned again, and asked, "Do you really want to go to the practice courts this early? We can't go to the kitchens, the cooks probably aren't awake."

Kai decided not to even debate that last point, and instead said hopefully, "The vendors in the streets have already been open for an hour."

"Yes, but the vendors in the streets demand my money, while the palace does not." He disappeared into his room, returning with two apples and tossing her one. "Breakfast," he announced. Kai shrugged mentally, she had made do with a lot less. "So do you want to go the practice courts?" he asked again as she bit into the fruit.

Her shrug was physical this time. "I normally stretch this early, but I don't care. Unless there's anywhere else to go around here."

"Not much," he admitted. "I have the morning off. The gardens, I suppose; all the court girls love them." At her glare he reconsidered. "There's the woods."

"The woods?" She had only been out of the city walls once, and then they hadn't strayed from the road. She had heard, of course, from people who had been outside in the wilderness that it was beautiful, as long as there were no spidrens or any other not-so-pleasant creatures around. "Aren't there immortals out there?"

"Yes, but they're always tracked, so we know where most of them are at all times. Then we can warn nearby villages if we think some of them might be too close, or send out help. For Corus, though, raids keep them out of a certain area, just for safety reasons. You've never been out of the city?"

"Of course I've been out of the city. Just not into the woods."

"Fine, there's a new path I wanted to see, anyway. I'm sure Stephen will let you borrow a horse…" He trailed off at her expression, and then carefully amended, "Or we could walk."

She nodded, trying to overcome the relief that was forcing its way out; she smiled reluctantly. "Now what time _will_ everyone be waking up?" she asked.

"Well, the morning bell is the seventh of the morning, so we have about," he squinted out the window, "An hour and a half."

Kai shook her head wonderingly. Through the window, they could faintly hear the sounds of morning traffic, already well begun and promising only to become heavier as the sun rose. Most people outside the palace would probably have been awake for an hour; by now many were well into the day's work. The baker would have bread in his oven; the smith would be done with a good amount of the nails some construction worker in the city had ordered from him; the weaver already done with a hand's width of the blanket a young mother wanted for her children. There would be customers bustling in the shopkeeper's store, farmers in their fields, carpenters would building their wares, and musicians tuning their instruments for the long day. She barely kept a sigh in, feeling very lost and out of place here.

They passed no one in the halls, though when Kai remarked on this, Faleron reminded her of the not-so-secret hallways behind the walls for the servants who would be the only other ones up this early. They left not through the same courtyard as they had come in just last night, but a large doorway that opened into an actual yard: grass, trees, and all. From this there was another gate, behind which was the forest.

It was not simply another court garden, sculpted to appear natural. This was what the storytellers dreamt of. This was wild, untouched beyond the rough paths, completely unknown to her. The trees were taller than the city walls, vines knotted unchecked around everything; bushes reared higher than a man could stand; flowers bloomed in shades that not even the most expensive jewels could match.

A bird called sang somewhere, and even though she had heard it from the birds that nested in the city countless times, here it felt different: freer, joyful even. Kai felt a smile grow on her face in reflection of the plant life around her, and slowly turned around until her skirt became tangled in her crutches and she almost tripped.

"You're very easily pleased," Faleron told her, stopping her from falling.

She stood quickly, untwirling her skirt without taking her eyes from the scene in front of her. "Do they-" she nodded to indicate the palace walls, "All know that this is out here?"

He shrugged. "Most of them. They just like their walls and fancy titles and whatnot."

"But it's so…"

"It's always been here," he said, seeming to share the opinion, "So most people think it'll always be here. A lot have been out here so often that they hardly even notice it."

She stared at him, amazed, and mentally tried to memorize the view so she cold tell Danai all about it tonight when they…

No, she stopped that train of thought quickly. She would not see her friends tonight, or, most likely, for a very long time. Trying to shrug off the sudden loneliness, she resolved even more determinedly to remember everything about this unknown outside world, so the next time she did she her friends, she would be able to tell them.

"What was that?" she asked, trying to keep the trepidation from her voice as a small, brown creature bolted from the safety of a tree's roots across the path in front of them.

"Chipmunk. Harmless. They never go into the city, too many people, I think." He was grinning, and she realized how ignorant and fearful she must have sounded.

"Fine, and when a spidren shows up, I fully expect _you_ to deal with it."

He laughed. "What happened to the girl who went and tried to beat up Zhahir?"

"Are you comparing him to a chipmunk or a spidren?"

"Chipmunk," Faleron said definitely as one chattered nearby. "He makes enough noise to be one."

She found herself laughing, and said, "Well I don't go around beating up innocent chipmunks." After that didn't hesitate to inquire as to everything else that she had never seen. The conversation strayed from natural life to occupations, songs, and childhoods.

"My brother was always tagging along after us," Faleron said at one point. "He had a dog that would always start barking if we left without him, or if we were doing something wrong. My friends and I tried sneaking back into the keep after dark, when we should have been back, and my brother had waited up for us, so the dog started howling and brought the entire household running."

"You must have been close."

"No more than any other siblings. You don't have any?"

She shook her head. "Not that I know of. There were whispers when I was little, that I wasn't supposed to hear, that my father, some street acrobat, and my mother got into a big fight just after I was born and he left her."

"That must have been terrible." His voice was sympathetic, but there was no pity there. She looked up from the flowers she had been weaving into a chain, trying to shrug nonchalantly.

"You can't miss someone you never knew."

"I guess." He didn't seem reassured, and she wondered why she had even told him. Danai, Hedi, and only a few others knew if her past.

"We should get back," Faleron said, glancing at the sun. "Just imagine what everyone will say when they awake to find that the two of us have run off together! The scandal!"

She blushed. "Or they'll think that we've both lost our senses and fled the city for Carthak."

"No, I don't know Carthaki and boats and I never got along. It'll have to be Galla," he decided, as if they were actually leaving.

They stopped as she wrestled her crutch from between a rock and a root in the trail, and so neither noticed the sound of others walking towards them.

"I really think you should reconsider this," a male voice suddenly said very loudly, sounding frustrated.

"No, if you want to trade me off for money go ahead, but don't expect me to like it!" The second voice was female, and very close.

"They're dying! This is our only chance!"

"Why can't you get more healers, medicine, something?"

At that exact moment, Kel strode into view on one of the adjoining trails, followed by a taller, but obviously related, man. She stopped at the sight of them, her face instantly becoming blank, and asked, "What are you two doing here?"

* * *

Not much of a cliffie, I know. But on the up side I got to use the word whatnot in a sentence (first time for everything). If someone could please tell me how to edit an already posted chapter, I'd be forever grateful. Umm, other than that…please please please review! 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"_No, if you want to trade me off for money go ahead, but don't expect me to like it!" The second voice was female, and very close._

"_They're dying! This is our only chance!"_

"_Why can't you get more healers, medicine, something?"_

_At that exact moment, Kel strode into view on one of the adjoining trails, followed by a taller, but obviously related, man. She stopped at the sight of them, her face instantly becoming blank, and asked, "What are you two doing here?"_

Faleron was staring. No one said anything, but the three nobles were staring at one another as if they were all wishing that they could forget that this encounter had ever happened. Kai finished wrestling with her crutches, then stood slowly, looking from one person to the other; they all seemed so wrapped up in some inner struggles that they had forgotten she was there.

Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she curtseyed as best as she could with a pair of crutches, and smiled at Kel as if she had completely missed overhearing the conversation and the resulting quietness.

"Good morning, Lady Kel," she said politely. "We were just taking a walk in the woods. I've never seen them before; are they this pretty all the time?"

Kel started slightly, then grinned back at Kai, obviously relieved. "I don't know, I'm not outside the city walls that often myself. In spring, though, in the Yamanis, is beautiful when all the cherry trees are in bloom. They have a big celebration for it every year." She nudged her companion. "Faleron, Kai, this is my brother, Anders."

"Nice to meet you," she said with another curtsey.

Faleron and Kel's brother immediately began some discussion of weapons training which Kel apparently was uninterested, as she turned to Kai.

"I thought you were going to be away for a while," Kai commented.

Kel looked surprised. "Did Lalasa say something to you?" Kai nodded; Kel rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry if she said something…inappropriate to you, but she's just such a loyal person that she expect everyone to be like her, too. Loyalty to a fault, I guess."

"Well, she was right. I shouldn't have been ungrateful like that and it was my fault."

"That you wanted to go back home?" Kel asked, raising an eyebrow. "If I could go back to the Yamanis and still be able to train like they are here, then I probably wouldn't have left. But now I got used to it, made some friends, and I wouldn't leave for all the trees in Galla."

"So you came back here to tell me that?" Kai asked with a smile.

"No," Kel said expressionlessly, her lips pressing together. "I came back because my parents…just recently…were in a riding accident. There have been a lot of landslides this summer, and it's been fairly common. There are whole villages in the mountains separated from the rest of us by huge rivers of mud. They've destroyed the crops. It's horrible. And I was going to the funeral. But Anders met me on the trail going out; he said it's all but impossible to get through, and if we did, then we might not be able to get back. We got into the city this morning."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Lady Kel," Kai said, even in sympathy not forgetting why she was here.

"Not Lady," Kel corrected quickly, as Kai had guessed that she would. Though there were very few nobles out there who considered themselves equal to commoners, if you ever did chance into meeting one, you could always tell the difference.

This small gesture of friendship encouraged Kai to ask, "Did they arrange a marriage for you?"

"Yes," Kel said, voice bitter. "The curse of being born noble."

"Not _all _noblemen are so awful," Kai said tentatively, then remembered the majority of those she had seen on the streets. Though the people here were proof that stereotypes weren't always accurate, it was a safe bet how most men treated their wives: same as the people they shoved and shouted at in the city.

Kel's lips grew even whiter at the edges as she pressed them tighter, showing how well she believed Kai.

"Did he tell you who it was yet?" Kai asked gently.

"No, but that doesn't matter," Kel said grimly. "If you're marrying for money then you'll always end up with some man old enough to be your grandfather because they're the only ones with anything to spare. Most likely, they'll just shut me up in some far estate no one's ever heard of because I'm too '_outspoken_' or '_headstrong_'," she said like the words were curses.

It was that moment that they heard the wings.

Stormwings. A whole group of them, circling over the city.

Kel saw them and cursed in a most unladylike fashion, then started running. "Come on, we need to tell the king."

Anders took off after her, which left Faleron doubtfully eying Kai's crutches.

"Aren't you going with them?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure they can handle it. Unless they get lost on their way there, but I'm sure some nice, friendly citizen will point out the huge towers. They'll get there eventually."

"You're such a nice friend," Kai told him, her eyes still on the Stormwings. "Why are they so worried about a bunch of Immortals?"

"Bad omen," he said simply. "They always go wherever they think there will be bloodshed. Not good."

"What happened to the smart government we always hear about that's so much more informed than us common folk?"

"We don't ignore signs from the gods," Faleron replied ominously, shooting her an appraising look, "And you shouldn't let them tell you that you're inferior because of where you were born."

"Tell that to the rest of the world," she said, rolling her eyes.

They came back to the gate into the city, and soon they were back in the courtyard, practically a whole different world, Kai thought. By now the servants were openly hurrying through the corridors, people had long since woken up, and the building had sprung to life once more.

A/N: Ok, I know, it's been a record-long delay, and I'm really sorry, especially since this is wicked short, but I have reasons, even though I know no one wants to hear them. Oh, yes, is anyone actually waiting for me to update Cerulean Translation? Unfortunately that may not happen for a while. (Sniff) Up side, I'm working on a new fic. Down side, it's harry potter. Err, other than that, sadly, my only excuse is major writers' block + lack of free time + lack of computer time + lack of time when free time and computer time coincide. Well, I'm having trouble with this story, so ANY IDEAS AS TO PLOT/CHARACTERS IS GREATLY APPRECIATED. I love writing in all caps. Makes it look important, doesn't it? O wait, anyway, more caps: PLEASE REVIEW! End caps.

Thanks to Ace Ryn Knight, maliaphire, seabiscuit0810, sarahelizabeth, Wildphire, Keeran Amytha who all reviewed!

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	11. Chapter 11

Last Chapter (cuz I know that no one can remember anything that happened cuz I haven't updated in forever)

_Stormwings. A whole group of them, circling over the city._

_Kel saw them and cursed in a most unladylike fashion, then started running. "Come on, we need to tell the king."_

_Anders took off after her, which left Faleron doubtfully eying Kai's crutches._

"_Aren't you going with them?" she asked._

"_I'm pretty sure they can handle it. Unless they get lost on their way there, but I'm sure some nice, friendly citizen will point out the huge towers. They'll get there eventually."_

"_You're such a nice friend," Kai told him, her eyes still on the Stormwings. "Why are they so worried about a bunch of Immortals?"_

"_Bad omen," he said simply. "They always go wherever they think there will be bloodshed. Not good."_

"_What happened to the smart government we always hear about that's so much more informed than us common folk?"_

"_We don't ignore signs from the gods," Faleron replied ominously, shooting her an appraising look, "And you shouldn't let them tell you that you're inferior because of where you were born."_

"_Tell that to the rest of the world," she said, rolling her eyes._

_They came back to the gate into the city, and soon they were back in the courtyard, practically a whole different world, Kai thought. By now the servants were openly hurrying through the corridors, people had long since woken up, and the building had sprung to life once more._

Chapter Eleven (finally)

There were people hurrying through the hallways. A lot of people. So many that they had a difficult time getting through.

"What happened?" Faleron asked one of the passing cooks, who was balancing a rather large tray on his way into a noble's apartments.

"There was a fight, my lord. A group of Carthakis against a score of Tortallians. It was a slaughter, they're saying."

"Who?"

"The people on the streets. Some of them saw a little of it, and word's getting around fast. All the nobles are worried that there will be political trouble between us and the south now."

"Just what we need," Faleron muttered as they walked away, "Another country out for our blood."

They found Esmond standing outside of their rooms, pacing back and forth.

"Finally!" he exclaimed when they got close enough. "Kel said that you're needed at the trial."

"Both of us?" Faleron asked.

"I guess so. Kel said for you to bring your maid. I'm not sure why. I had just walked in so I don't know what was happening."

"They caught them already then?" Kai asked. When they both looked at her, she explained, "There was a big fight in the streets. Now there's a trial. They must be trying whoever started the fight." She almost rolled her eyes at how slow nobles could be sometimes.

"I guess so," Esmond said, shrugging. "But everyone was really worried about it and they're all hurrying to get it over with."

"They don't want trouble with the Carthaki trade," Faleron said.

They didn't speak again as Esmond led them to the courthouse. It was situated right in the palace grounds, right next to the main entrance opposite the stables. The large room was already crowded with people who were talking at what seemed like the loudest volume possible. They quickly went around to a side door that led to a smaller back room, likewise already crowded with people, but they were quiet and, though tenser, all obviously of greater social status than the other room.

No one said anything at their arrival, but it was clear that they were waiting for something. It was only a few more minutes before a tall, black-haired man walked in, flanked by an older, graying man and a short woman with bright hair and purple eyes.

"Now that we're all here," the older man, who Kai realized was Duke Gareth from seeing him a few times in the city, said, "You should all know _why_ we're here. There is now, as we speak, a new legion of commoners banding together for the purpose of raising themselves, forcibly if necessary. They are led by one who calls himself Fang.

"Today, the group's first act was instigating a fight between some of the local thieves and a group of Carthaki nobles. We have some of the thieves who were involved, which is where we got the information from, but we cannot determine how trustworthy this is. The Carthakis are either dead or at the palace Healers'."

"Who is this Fang?" one of the nobles asked. "Where did he come from?"

"We have our intelligence system looking into this, but so far we have very little. He came into the city sometime between last week and a month ago. Time enough to blend in with the Midsummer crowd and escape notice from the guards. He is thought to be of either northern or Scanran descent, and has been described tentatively as young, blonde, and has a scar that resembles a fang on the left side of his face."

"How many of our people are in his group?"

"We aren't positive of that yet."

"How safe are the streets?" "Are we in danger?" "How can we trust this information?" The questions continued as Kai wondered why she was here. She was simply standing quietly in the background while the nobles argued about the chances of an uprising when someone said:

"What are we going to do about this?" It was the redhead who had spoken; Kai had easily recognized her as Lady Alanna from the stories that were told about her in the city. Kai wondered why she was here if her husband had already left for Pirates' Swoop.

"We want a select group of people to question the thieves and see how dependable our information is and if there is anything else to know. We will double our guards around the city and send out our spies to find out about this Fang. Lastly, we will need everyone to convince the commoners that everything is as it should be. You all will be expected to continue as usual; go into the city as you would, but be alert for rumors and signs."

Immediately, there were comments from the nobles: "Who will go talk to the thieves?" "Who's paying for the extra guards?" "How long will this last?" "What parts of the city are the safest?"

The king raised his hands. "Go about as you would. That is all you need to know. We have spoken about the people who should interview the witnesses, and we have chosen Sir Raoul, Lady Alanna, Duke Gareth…" The list was short, but Kai wasn't particularly attentive at that point, after all the talking, so she was surprised when she heard her name called.

"Get up," Faleron said, grinning as he shoved her toward the door where a group of about ten nobles were standing. She looked back at him wide-eyed. What was she supposed to do?

"Umm…sir," Kai said tentatively as she walked up, "Why me?"

The king turned around, fixing his piercing blue eyes on her. "Sir Geard was telling me that his squire had taken in a girl from the street. It's always useful to have someone who's been there, could have heard the talk around. Do you happen to know anything about this?"

"No, I hadn't heard about this when I was out there."

He nodded. "Well, you still may be of some use."

They walked across the hall and down the stairs to a much smaller room, which, when unoccupied, would have had sparse furniture, except that the furnishings were unnoticeable with the amount of people in the tiny room right now. About fifteen assorted people stood, obviously not in the happiest of moods right now.

"When can we leave?" demanded one as the king walked up. He opened the door and Kai eyed the room dubiously. It was lucky that all the thieves had fit in there alone, adding their group would be a god-given miracle. Fortunately, though, he motioned for the to file out into the hallway, where they stood in a long line facing the nobles. Kai stayed off to the side a little, studying the newcomers.

"Ver!" she said suddenly, recognizing the one who had spoken first.

He turned. "Kai? What are ya doin' with _them_?"

She grimaced. "It's a really long story. Didn't Danai or George or Lora say anything about it?"

He shrugged. "Not that I heard. So, are ya workin' fer _them_ now or something'?"

"Not exactly."

"She's here to help," the king explained, choosing this time to interrupt their conversation, which Kai realized that everyone had been listening to. "So just tell us your side of the story again and you can go."

"We already tol' ya, and then ya tol' us we was free," pointed out one of the other thieves, who Kai vaguely recognized from the Dancing Dove.

"We told you that we would consider what you said, and then, if we didn't need you anymore, then you could leave," explained Duke Gareth patronizingly. Kai frowned. She tended to believe the commoners' story, but she wasn't here about that, and arguing with the duke wouldn't get anyone anywhere.

"Jus' tell 'em again, cuz these nobles are kinda slow," Kai said, winking at them as she slid into their method of talking. All commoners really didn't talk like that, but a lot of those on the opposite side of the law did. One or two of the nobles frowned at her behavior, but said nothing as then Ver grinned back at her and started talking. Kai thought that she saw the Lioness smile in her direction, but she could have been mistaken.

Ver began, "See, we was takin' a buncha crates off ta the wharves fer this merchant, he pays us good fer stuff like that. Then, we was on Main Street an' Dal here's mate comes up an' tells us that those Carthakis across the way was plannin' on makin' a fight that they could blame on us, ta get some money, see. Well, some of us was thinkin', an' we decided that we couldn't risk it, cuz they was big, mean-looking brutes with guards and weapons. They didn't look like they was about to do nothing, though, so we was jus' gonna keep an eye on 'em, see, so they couldn't surprise us or nothing."

One of the others took it up. "It was all 'a the sudden, too, so none of us saw it. All 'a the guards jus' turned to us, like some'un had said something to 'em. Then they jus' started shooting their arrers at us, an' what were we supposed ta do but fight back?" he asked the nobles, who all looked like they thought that they could have handled they situation better.

"Well," the king said, glancing at his companions. "Questions?"

Sir Raoul asked, "Did you actually see anyone go up to the Carthakis?" They shook their heads. "Were the Carthakis watching you before they began shooting?"

One of the silent boys spoke up. "They wasn't even payin' attention ta us before that. It was all 'a the sudden."

"Do you know anything about the leader of this new gang?"

Ver said, "I heard 'im talkin' in a bar Midsummer night. That was the first anyone 'ad 'eard a 'im. He was kinda tall, but slouched down like, an' he 'ad this scar that looked exactly like he had a fang stickin' outta 'is mouth."

"How do we know that you're telling the truth?" the duke asked.

It was here that the king turned to her. "Kel assured me that you were trustworthy, so we'll have to rely on your judgment, Kai."

"Sir," she said slowly, meeting his gaze, "If they say that they're telling you the truth, then I would believe them. They wouldn't lie about something like this."

She glanced over at Ver, who was watching her with an odd expression. Like he couldn't believe that she had just said that.

Well, Kai thought, if she had said otherwise, then they would have been here all day. She normally wouldn't trust _everything_ that a lot of these people told her, but the king did not have to know that. Besides, none of the thieves had ever once looked insincere, and she had enough experience with them to know when they were lying. Or so she hoped.

"You can all go then," the king said. "Duke Gareth, will you please inform the others of what has happened during this meeting?"

What followed was comparable to a mad dash to the door, but at a slightly more dignified pace. _Slightly._

"Kai!" she heard someone call. She turned to find Ver right behind her. "I need to talk to you," he said.

* * *

End of chapter. I don't have any time to write the A/n, or else there would be like a paragraph of meaningless rambling right here. Umm anyway, please please please review so I know someone read this. Tell me what you think. 


	12. Chapter 12

Ok, this **really **had to be rewritten, because of…everything. Well, the beginning parts are the same, but I had to redo a lot of it when I got into the next two chapters and everything started going downhill. Thus, the new version of Chapter 12. I hope you all like this better (or I might have made everything worse, in which case I'm probably wasting my time, but that's ok, because it's summer and I'm bored.)

Chapter 12

She looked at Ver. He seemed nervous and kept stealing glances at everyone around them as if nervous about being overheard. She hesitated; then led the way into one of the empty rooms nearby. It looked exactly like the one that the "witnesses" had been kept in; it had the same bare, sparse furniture and dreary atmosphere.

"What in Mithros are you doin' here?" he demanded as soon as the door was closed. "Don't ya realize that this place is filled with them nobles? Why would ya come here after what happened Midsummer? We woulda kept ya safe."

"I told you that it was a long story. I thought you didn't even know what happened on Midsummer."

"'Course I do! Every'un does! Dal was there! Every'un wants ta know why you're still here!"

"Ask George about it sometime." Then she realized something. "Were you lying about everything else in there too then?" she asked.

He frowned. "No, what we said was all true. It's what we didn't say that's more important, though. Never tell a noble everythin' ya know, didn't nobody teach ya that?"

"Wait," she said. "What's so important that you didn't say?"

He hesitated. "Remember how Dal was there that day?" She nodded. "Well, me an' 'im was goin' 'round that night, an' we saw that noble that was supposed ta have left the city in one 'a the taverns talkin' treason. Dal recalled 'is face. He wanted ta go stick a knife in the man's back then an' there, but I tol' 'im he was too drunk ta do it right. It was true too."

"Why were you two drunk?" she asked suspiciously.

He laughed. "Lass, it was Midsummer! There wasn't a somber person on the street!"

"Just because you're three years older than me doesn't mean that you can go around getting drunk. Or calling me 'lass'."

"You don't care when George calls ya that," he pointed out.

"Because he's old enough to be my father!" Then she remembered the important thing about this conversation. "Wait, so you saw Joren in a tavern talking treason?" Why did that sound familiar? Kai wondered. She paused. "Didn't you say that you saw that Fang in a tavern that night too?" Ver nodded. "Were they talking to one another?" she asked hopefully.

He shook his head. "Same person, Kai. Don't know how he got back in the city so fast, but he did."

She closed her eyes. "We're in so much trouble."

"Wanna come with us?" Ver offered.

"No," she said, opening her eyes. "I promised. Besides, it's not so horrible here. That girl, Kel, is nice. You'd like her," she said, smiling.

"I doubt it," Ver said. He had a terrible loathing of any and all nobles.

"Ver! We're leavin' without ya!" someone; Dal, Kai thought; shouted from the hall.

"I gotta leave," he said apologetically. "I'll tell Danai you're alright."

"Thanks. I'll see you all soon," she said, hoping that it was true.

The thieves left and Kai went up alone to where the original group was still arguing in the first room.

"We can't do anything about them!" someone shouted. "We have to protect our people first!" It was Sir Raoul, and he was upset about something. "We can't have fights like this happening all the time!"

"Calm down," the king ordered. "All we need to do is just stay organized. Now, who has an idea?"

Kai made her way quietly to where Faleron and Kel were standing with a few of the other squires who were there.

"How was it?" Kel asked as she walked up.

"Umm…informative," she said carefully. She paused, wondering how to say it. "We might have a problem with Fang."

"Why?"

"It's Joren."

No one said anything. Kel was pale, and the rest looked furious that he would go back on his promise.

"Are you certain?" Faleron asked finally.

"Yes. One of my friends was there that day and then they saw him in a tavern that night. We're sure."

It was then that the door opened and who should walk in but the baron of Pirates' Swoop himself.

Kai felt her eyes widen. He actually looked like one of then, she thought. He wasn't in his street clothes anymore and could have passed for a noble if one didn't already know who he really was. Which was not a noble, she convinced herself firmly. He was like her, which was how she _knew_ beyond doubt that she could trust him. Right?

She watched, not paying attention to the arguing around her, as he greeted Alanna; then the king walked up to him, and, as it was clear that he was about to say something, everyone quieted.

"I see you got the messenger, George," Jonathon said conversationally. "Did you get the whole story?"

'I heard everything that Thayet wrote," George replied, eyes sweeping the room. "She said that you had some of my lads here. I assume that they all left." Kai smiled. Even though he looked like a noble, his first concern was of his thieves, just as a street dwellers' should.

"Of course," the king said. "Just missed them, in fact."

"How many of them?" George asked suspiciously.

"Fifteen; all that came in. You could ask Lord Geard's squire's maid, in fact. She knew a few of them," he said good-humouredly, as if amused by that.

"Oh?" George said, unsurprised as he turned to Kai. "Who was it?"

Kai bit her lip as she tried to remember everyone. "Dal and Ver," she started, and saw him smile at something. "Matt the pickpocket. Hage. Justin. Kordel. Treble. Tomothy. That's all I can remember," she finished apologetically.

"That's good," he said, nodding. "I'll speak to Rukas, the new king, later. They're all becoming a little careless."

Jonathon didn't even raise an eyebrow at this talk happening right in front of him. Kai wondered at that for a second; then decided it didn't matter as long as she wasn't going to get in trouble for treason for it.

"Now," Jonathon said, taking the floor again, "We have discovered almost nothing new after this second session with the witnesses, so, we're open to new ideas."

"How much do we know about the leader?" George asked.

"Very little," Duke Gareth admitted. "He's pale, probably of northern descent, blond, and has a scar on the left side of is face."

"We know who it is," Kai said tentatively, stepping forward. "It's…"

She felt someone not so discreetly step on her foot, tugging her backwards. "Don't tell them," Faleron told her quietly. "They won't believe you."

"Don't listen to her, majesty," Kel said, covering for them. "She doesn't realize what she's saying."

The king was still looking at her, Kai realized. "Who is it?" he inquired, his eyes steady.

She smiled nervously. "What do I know? I'm just a maid."

She glanced around the room uneasily. Sir Raoul was frowning at his squire; Alanna was looking at their whole group suspiciously; the duke appeared to be thinking, and George's eyes were narrowed to slits.

"I would like to know where the Carthakis are right now," Raoul asked, saving them. "Could they identify whoever started the fight?"

"Can we find the one who was talking to the other group too?" someone else wondered.

George shook his head. "We can find out who it was, but they'll be long gone by now. Disappear or leave the city. You won't be able to find them."

"Well, could we at least figure out who supports this _Fang_?" Duke Gareth asked, his eyes darting to Kai at the last word.

"We could get a few of them," George answered thoughtfully. "Not all, mind. But a good estimate."

Jonathon nodded. "Please do that as soon as possible."

George grinned at his wife. "Guess we'll be staying in the city for a little while longer then, eh?"

She shoved him lightly, smiling. "Fine, but you'll be _working_ then, not taking a vacation to go drink with your old friends."

"Alanna dear, I'm crushed that you would think so little of me."

Most of them chuckled at the couple's antics, but Jonathon cleared his throat as if he were reminding them where they were. Kai almost smiled as she remembered how the elders in the taverns used to talk about the king and his champion.

The nobles began to break up into their separate little clusters to discuss what they had heard and their plans for the future. More than one person was concerned about getting around in the city without guards and how the price for said protection would probably go up while they were in demand. Kai shook her head. _Nobles_. Servants circulated, bearing trays of drinks with them as they slid from group to group, never interrupting on another's paths like some well-rehearsed dance.

"Kai?" someone asked from behind her. She turned to see Faleron grinning at her. "Pay attention, will you?" Their group had formed a tight circle and were whispering as loud as humanly possible, which, Kai thought, defeated the purpose of whispering.

"So what, we just won't tell anyone?" Esmond hissed. "That's withholding information. They could call that treason."

"Well, if whoever you're about to tell has a high possibility of laughing in your face, then don't tell them," Neal commented.

Kai smiled, but then realized how reasonable the advice sounded. It was then that one of the maids, precariously balancing a tray of full cups, infiltrated their circle. In her palace garments, Kai might have never recognized Sholla, the barmaid from the Dancing Dove and one of George's spy recruits.

"Drinks, my lords, lady," Sholla offered in a perfect palace servant imitation, turning slightly so that Kai could see her face. She gave an almost imperceptible nod toward the door, and was gone.

Kai watched her weave her way between groups, heading, almost unnoticeably, towards the wall where George, his wife, and a few others of obvious important rank were speaking. The ex-thief was, to all appearances, deeply immersed in the conversation, except for when, every so often, he glanced around the room, as if waiting for something…or someone. He saw Sholla, still halfway across the room, gave her a small smile, and turned back to his companions to, Kai guessed, make his excuses and leave.

She also suddenly began paying attention to what people around her were saying.

"Ok, so _everyone_," Kel was declaring "Don't go into the city by yourself." She was looking at Kai as she said this. "Now, I think we'll have to tell someone about Joren. Any suggestions?"

They all began putting in names of so-called trustworthy nobles. Kai knew that she wouldn't be any help in this conversation so she murmured, "I'll be right back," to Faleron and slid away to the door, where Sholla was waiting with an empty tray. George joined them a moment later.

"This is from Stephan the hostler," Sholla whispered, trying not to draw attention to their group, slipping a paper to the baron. "It's important."

Is this better than last chapter or worse? Opinions?

Mina (who really needs to get a username)

Maliaphire

Wingedrider

bellachaos

DarkAngel2210

BigBigStarr

seabiscuit0810

Keeran Amytha

and anyone else who reviewed. (Doesn't it make you feel all warm and fuzzy when people review? Oh, that might just be me. Never mind.)

**Silveni Jinx**: Yes, I recently found out that Kai _is_ a male name (oops). Thanks for pointing that out. On the up side, I knew that it was Japanese (or Chinese. Or something like that. cringes at the thought of friends yelling at self for that comment No offense meant to anyone of aforementioned cultures). The point of that comment was that it is _purposely_ a Japanese (etc.) name, just the wrong gender. It comes in eventually. (about the Japanese thing. not the gender thing) I will give whoever can guess what George is hiding $20 (as soon as I can convince my mom to lend me $20)

Give a hoot. Review. (or don't pollute, whichever is easier. The environment is your friend, people.)


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

"_This is from Stephen the hostler," Sholla murmured, discreetly handing George a piece of paper. "It's important."_

Sholla obviously didn't know what it was, Kai decided.

George scanned the paper while Kai waited impatiently; she wished that she could just read it herself. After a minute, he frowned, crumpled the note into a ball, and stuffed it into his belt bag.

"Tell Stephen to send this to Orem," George ordered as he hastily scribbled a reply on another paper. Kai remembered hearing somewhere that the head hostler had carrier birds who could mail messages between the palace and the city secretly.

"Sir, is this about the bandits?" Sholla asked, tucking the paper away.

One of the former king's eyebrows rose. "How would you know about that?" he inquired.

Kai saw Sholla's mouth twitch. "Not exactly confidential information, sir. I'd say that almost a quarter of the city has heard some vague rumor about it, and perhaps four score people actually saw what was there."

George swore. "I want you all to start a rumor that the body was a hunting accident, nothing more. Mix up who it was and what class. You know the drill."

Sholla nodded and walked away with an empty tray balanced on her shoulder.

"What body?" Kai asked innocently enough after a moment.

"Nothing you should worry about," George said lightly. He doesn't want the truth to spread past the gossip, Kai thought.

"_I'll_ be worried if we can't send messages out of the city," Sholla commented, returning with a full tray from the nearby kitchen. "Drinks?" she offered with a smile.

"Are there bandits stopping the messengers?" Kai asked incredulously.

"You talk too much for a spy," George informed Sholla.

"She should know," Sholla replied. "'A good spy gets information to those who need it most,'" she quoted quickly.

George grabbed a drink and downed it at once, probably wishing that it was something stronger, Kai thought wryly. "You should also listen to your superiors," he said after a moment of deep consideration.

"Not when they're wrong," Sholla replied cheekily.

"You're going to drive me to an early grave," he told the spy in disguise, then sighed. "Yes, we have bandits," he told Kai. "More than before, actually. If it were the same ones that we had a truce with, then we wouldn't be having these problems."

"What problems?" Kai wanted to know.

"Returned messengers who still have the letters and are unconscious, or dead. Movement around the city walls. We think there's more than were before, probably twice as many, but maybe more."

"Where'd they come from?" Kai wondered aloud as Sholla wandered off to fulfill her duty as 'waitress'. "No, it's not _him_ doing all this, is it?" She was referring to Joren/Fang, but she knew that George was aware of who she meant.

George shrugged. "Might be. Not personally, of course, but he may have supplied the men and weapons, and he's probably controlling them."

"Why? Why would he station troops _outside_ the city walls? Wouldn't he want to sneak them all in so we _don't_ notice?" Kai asked, earning her a strange look from George.

"Mayb'," he agreed slowly, then shook his head. "We still don't know that it's him, though, so don't jump to conclusions. And don't tell _anyone_. Not Danai, Hedi, Kel, no one."

"They'll find out eventually when more bodies end up outside the gates," Sholla remarked on her way by again. Kai grinned, then realized the seriousness of what had been said. George shook his head and muttered something about discretion in spies.

"Why don't you tell someone?" Kai demanded. "Don't just keep sending out people to be killed."

"The king knows," George assured her, "And keeping everyone in here would be admitting defeat to the bandits. There still is traffic coming in and out: farmers, travelers, and pheasants. Don't worry about it."

Despite his confidence, Kai did worry often in the next two weeks, but she never told anyone what she had been told.

At Kel's and Faleron's insistence, Kai tried to learn to fight with her daggers from Faleron. They practiced; or, in Kai's case, were routinely hit with blunt practice weapons whenever she didn't understand, which was often; every morning. Even though Faleron went over and over the stances and ideas behind fighting, Kai still devoutly failed when putting the theory to work.

"It's like a dance," Faleron attempted to explain, covering his frustration at another failed effort with sparring. "See, if I do this," he exaggerated the movements for a simple upper strike, "then you do this," he said slowly, bringing her free arm up to the correct defense. She was currently balanced precariously on one crutch with the dagger in her other hand.

"I know that," she snapped. "But it's not the same. When you dance, your partner very rarely tricks you, or bruises you, and you're not out for the other person's blood or anything, and I keep thinking, what if I hurt someone? What if the blade slips? What if your hit is too hard and you accidentally stab me or something?"

"I think," he cut into her babbling, "That you think way too much and that you don't need to worry about the blades when we're using _wooden_ daggers." He grinned down at her. "You're not mad enough." He slowly did a lower strike, which she blocked easily.

"I'm not mad enough," she repeated stupidly. "You're right. Obviously you have to be _insane_ to take up fighting." She tried an offensive swing at his head, which he parried.

"You're not angry enough, and you know that that was what I meant. Or are you just as slow? I thought that street people were like that; apparently I'm right," he said nonchalantly as he struck again.

She started. "Well I thought that all nobles were bigheaded and overbearing; apparently _I'm_ right," she snapped back with another block and another strike. Then she saw it. There was a rhythm to it: block, hit, block, hit, block. She didn't even realize that they had stopped talking, or that she was whispering that to herself as they exchanged blows until he stopped, grinning.

"Finally," he said. "If I had know that all I had to do was insult you, then you could've been a master swordsman by now."

"Swords_woman_," she corrected loftily. The bell tolled the hour. "Don't you have to meet your knight master?"

Faleron hit his forehead. "Darn it! Can you put these back in the storage shed for me?" Not waiting for an answer, he thrust his wooden weapon at her and dashed out of the practice courts.

"Great," Kai said sarcastically as she glanced around at the almost empty room. The sheds were nearby, but she didn't know how long she'd be able to balance with only one crutch. Knowing her, it wouldn't last long.

She awkwardly hopped across the room, thanking the gods that no one was there to witness it.

"Do you want some help?" asked a tentative voice from the direction of the door.

Kai yelped, turned, tripped, and fell on the floor. "Umm…good morning, Lalasa," Kai greeted as she rubbed her bruised knee. "How long have you been there?"

"Not too long," Lalasa replied quietly. "Sorry?" she offered, her hand coming up to hide a grin.

"Here," Kai said as she tossed her the two wooden sticks. "Can you put those in there, please?"

"Need time to recover?" Lalasa took them and set off across the floor at a speed that Kai could envy.

Kai, meanwhile, forced herself up. "Well, that went better than expected," she murmured to herself, having dreaded the next time that she met up with Kel's maid after being upbraided for leaving. That was two weeks ago, Kai realized. Which meant that her foot should be fine. She hesitantly put her weight on it, and, feeling no pain, happily spun a pirouette, and ended up on the floor again. "Darn it!"

Lalasa walked back. "You're still not up?" she asked. "Maybe you should go to the healers'."

"Never mind," Kai said, getting up once more. She held the now-useless crutches in one hand. "What are you doing down here?"

Lalasa shrugged. "I thought I'd see if you were doing anything today."

"Not really," Kai answered. "Faleron never tells me to do anything, so mostly I just clean." She laughed. "Two weeks, and I've finally finished cleaning his room."

Lalasa smiled shyly in response.

Silence.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you before," Lalasa blurted out quickly. "I might have done the same thing in you place."

Kai shook her head. "You were right. I shouldn't have left." She stuck out her hand. "Friends?"

"Of course," Lalasa said, but despite her confident sounding answer, she seemed surprised and…pleased, by the offer.

Kai shrugged. "Well, I have very little else to do for the rest of the day. Do you want some help?"

Lalasa bit her lip. "Only if you're sure that you don't have anything else to do."

Kai laughed again. "Faleron takes his clothes to the palace tailor. There's some type of code of honor that says he has to clean his own weapons. His room is spotless. I'd be bored."

Before Kai knew it, Lalasa was teaching her to sew like a maid in her room, which, unfortunately, Kai grasped almost as much as fighting yesterday. It was only because she had had some type of a positive breakthrough that she kept sticking the needle through in random places with the hope that she wouldn't stab herself with it. She was used to more practical sewing: tears in her clothes and taking in skirts that were too big for her.

"The stitches have to be tiny, like this." Lalasa demonstrated an elaborate pattern that was half embroidery.

Kai let out a frustrated sigh. "Why can't I get anything around here right?" She scowled.

"It's alright," Lalasa soothed, her voice sounding distracted. The needle paused, and she drew her other hand out from behind the dress she was making to reveal her bloody thumb.

"Am I bugging you?" Kai asked as she wrapped the injury in some of the plentiful fabric nearby. "You seem…worried."

"No, of course not!" was the instant reply. There was a pause in which Kai scrutinized her work. "I'm just…concerned about something," Lalasa admitted.

"Kel?"

Lalasa looked up, surprised. "No," she said after a slight hesitation. "It's just that…"

"The betrothal?" Kai understood suddenly. She had assumed that the gown the Lalasa was sewing would be for some court lady, but now she saw that it was fitted for a very tall, modest person. And it made sense that Kel would tell her maid; they were like best friends. Lalasa must have just found out recently, Kai thought.

"How do you know about that?" Lalasa demanded, and edge of-was it jealousy? –tinting her voice.

Kai quickly explained how she and Faleron had overheard some of what Kel told her brother when she found out about the agreement. "Who is it?" she asked tentatively, curiosity getting the better of her.

Lalasa shook her head. "I shouldn't tell," she murmured.

"You know that the entire court will know soon," Kai pointed out.

"Ask Kel yourself," Lalasa said, pulling her stitches just a little too tight.

"Fine," Kai agreed. She didn't want to push Lalasa too much as they had just become friends again.

There was a knock on the door, and in walked-to Kai's great surprise-Danai. She closed the door quickly, and then slowly turned. "Hello, Kai."

* * *

Ok, I'll admit that that was a cliffhanger, but if I put the rest in then this would be longer than it already is, but I think it's my longest chapter so far. I'm kinda in a hurry right now or else I'd put up everyone who reviewed. I wanted to get a chapter out since the last update was so long ago.

Now, I must ask, how many people reading this like Danai as a character? Have I turned her into arch nemesis number one? Have you all forgotten her? Please tell me in a review what you think.


	14. Chapter 14

Ok, so I think that no one really remembers Danai very well, so just in reminder, Danai is Kai's best friend, a singer who has known her for most of her life. Before, she was mad at Kai because she thought that Kai was trying to blend into noble society and leave her past, but then Kai made up with her, but then Kai left again two weeks ago, and she hasn't seen Danai since. Umm…I hope that clears it up a little bit.

Chapter Fourteen

Ver's POV

Ver jumped a little in an attempt to see over the crowd. Where did he go? And what was he doing in this part of the city?

Dal hadn't been the same these past few weeks. Ver didn't know what had changed, but it was like his best friend was only partially there. They didn't joke anymore, and conversations were strained almost beyond awkward. Ver had taken to following Dal whenever possible for the past three days to figure out just what had changed in him. So far, Dal seemed to be doing everything the same as he always did, which didn't help Ver.

He caught sight of him again. They were in the upper parts of Corus, where the streets were lined with nobles' houses and the rare stores were all strictly honest businesses. The wares showed through the windows were both fancier and more expensive than those near Ver's normal city route. Ahead loomed the palace gates.

There he was! Dal was turning into a side street on the right between a clothes store and a weapon maker; Ver paused at the opening of the alley, wondering what his friends could possibly be doing here.

"Is everything ready?" Dal's voice asked in a tone that Ver recognized as one that he used when trying to sound confident but was actually worried.

"We're still waiting for Bit with the sleepy juice." Ver couldn't remember ever having heard this person before; he wasn't any of their usual circle of friends. Concerned, he made to move closer to actually see what was going on, but the presence of someone from the street behind stopped him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the other demanded. Ver turned to see a youth around his age holding a sack and a knife. Before Ver could do anything, the newcomer shouted, "Mates, we got a spy!" There came the sound of footsteps from the alley, at least two people, but probably more. Then something very hard hit Ver's head, and he knew no more.

(Last chapter)

_There was a knock on the door, and in walked-to Kai's great surprise-Danai. She closed the door quickly, and then slowly turned. "Hello, Kai."_

Kai jumped up. "Danai! What are you doing here?"

"Stephen said that you'd be here," Danai said. She looked a little guilty. "They've been having you followed."

Kai hit her forehead. "I knew I felt like I was being watched!" She frowned. If she had been living in the city still, she bet that something like that would have never gotten past her. "But why are you here, Danai?"

Danai paused, apparently seeing Lalasa, who had been rather quiet. "Hello, I'm Danai," she introduced herself as she stuck out her hand. "You must be Lalasa." Lalasa took the offered hand and smiled.

Kai had a sinking feeling in her stomach, like something bad was going to happen. "Danai, why _are_ you here?"

Danai sighed.

Lalasa stood up, edging her way to the door. "If you two want some privacy…" she began.

Kai jumped up. "No, Lalasa. It's your room. We'll just go to mine and be back in two minutes, all right?"

Lalasa nodded and Kai led Danai to her room.

Danai looked around. "It's pretty small."

Kai shrugged. "I'm not in here that much. Normally I'm in Faleron's room, or the training courts, or someone else's room." She realized that she was babbling, and stopped herself. "Danai, I'm sorry about all…_this_…I was…"

"It's not your fault," Danai broke in. "I shouldn't have been mad." She smiled, and then frowned. "We might have more problems now, though."

"Like what?"

"Like I might be stuck here with you," Danai answered grimly. She pulled up her shirtsleeve to reveal a large white bandage on her arm. "A couple of 'em followed me home from work last night."

Kai gasped. "Are you…"

"I'm fine. I wasn't alone at the time."

There was something about this that she wasn't being told, Kai thought. "How many were involved, then?" she asked.

Danai shrugged. "Four of them. Ver, Matt, Oner, Treble," she named the people on their side. "That's not the problem though. George thinks that if they know that we're friends, then they must know more about us than we know about them. He said that he thinks most of our other friends are safe, but he wants the two of us together just in case. He also told me to tell you," here she rolled her eyes, "Not to take any unnecessary chances, to always be with someone, and to stay in the palace," she rattled off quickly.

Kai rolled her eyes also. "I don't need _nursemaids_."

"Kai," Danai said seriously. "Look at me. They actually followed me because they knew I was your _friend_. Not because I actually knew anything, but they thought if I was killed then you would do something reckless for revenge. This _is_ serious."

"I know," Kai sighed. "I just…"

She was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Kai, it's Dal. Open up!"

"Dal?" Kai repeated to Danai. "What's he doing here?'

Danai shrugged. "I had nothing to do with this."

Kai opened the door. Dal walked in quickly, followed by four others in black cloaks.

"Who are-" Kai started before a pad was thrust over her mouth. Her lungs filled with a sticky sweet gust of air, and her vision darkened around the edges.

"I'm sorry," she thought she heard someone say before the poison did its work.

George's POV

George sat at his desk that same morning, brow unusually furrowed in thought. He was worried about this Fang person. A few years ago, he might have been concerned that he was challenging the Dove's leadership, but as George had long ago given up being King of the Rogue, he could only advise Rukes, his replacement.

But the thing that was weirdest about all this was that George couldn't figure out what Fang _was_ trying to do. He didn't seem to be interested in the Rogue, and George would bet his hat that the return of the bandits and all those new fights on the streets had something to do with him. And who in their right mind would reveal all their troops so _obviously?_ It had to be a trick of some kind.

And Danai was an added concern that he didn't need on top of everything else. He hadn't had any spies to watch her at the time, so it had been unusually lucky that a few of his boys had been around last night at that most recent fight. He had told her to join Kai, who he hoped could provide a cover and a job while he cleared all this up. George sincerely hoped that most girls from the city wouldn't start having this problem, or else the palace would become overflowing with maids in disguise.

And Danai led to another problem. Fang obviously had an excellent intelligence service, or else he wouldn't have known anything about Danai. It was that or there was an important traitor on their side who was feeding them information about Kai. Either way was not good, especially considering that George's normally impressive spies had been able to find almost nothing about Fang or where he came from. Also, from the position of the fights, the enemy had to have a wide range of supporters all over the city.

Sholla entered his office, looking slightly out of breath. "They're gone! Lalasa, Danai, and Kai. We've searched the entire palace. They're not here."

George raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean to tell me that they have run away?"

"N," Sholla said instantly. "We found traces of poison in Kai's room and the hall. There was too much for just one person. They were kidnapped."

George jumped up. "Find Kai's employed, Faleron, and Ver, too. Stephen can send a message to him. Tell him to start searching the usual places in the city."

Sholla nodded and left, but was back in less that half an hour. "Faleron's knight master won't let him leave until lunch. Said he was late this morning or something." She paused. "No one can find Ver or Dal."

George frowned. "That makes a lot of missing people: Ver, Dal, Danai, Kai, Lalasa, and whoever else decides to join them. I think we can assume that Fang has them." Sholla's expression fell, as if she had been waiting for George to come up with a reasonable explanation for all this. "See if Sir Myles is able to be found," he ordered, sitting down again to sift through papers.

Faleron's POV

Faleron also sat at a desk, but his was covered with numbers, maps, and accounts of past battles. He frowned.

Outside, the noon bell finally rang and he sighed in relief.

"I want that finished by tomorrow," his knight master warned, looking up from the book he had been reading for the past two hours. Faleron contained a groan and nodded, wanting nothing more than to find his friends and get something to eat. "Oh, Faleron," Lord Geard said as he scratched his head. "Some maid was asking for you in the middle of the lesson. Said to find her at the Baron of Pirates Swoop's chambers."

"Was it Kai?" Faleron asked, mind still on lunch.

"Didn't give a name," Geard said thoughtfully. "Looked kinda queer, though, not quite like the other maids."

"It was probably her then. Thanks," Faleron called over his shoulder as he left. He would just go to lunch, and then see what Kai wanted afterwards.

Faleron put his tray on the table, glancing from Cleon to Esmond to Owen. "Where're Neal and Kel?"

Esmond shrugged. "Haven't seen them all day."

"Have you heard about that new guy coming next week?" Owen asked. "From some farming fief out east. Didn't even come to train. Gonna take over the crops when the lord dies, I hear."

The conversation continued in that direction for a few minutes, until Kel rushed in. Faleron, where in Mithros have you been?" she demanded. "Didn't you get the message?" She looked more worried than usual, Faleron noted.

"Kai's? Of course. I was going to see how she was after lunch," Faleron said conversationally, and then caught the look on Kel's face. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"You were?" Kai asked, temporarily dumbfounded. "You got a message from her?" Kel's face slid slightly into anger.

"Yeah, she said she would be in George's room. Why?"

"She's gone," Kel said flatly. "They were kidnapped. Her and Lalasa and some other girl."

"Are you sure?" Faleron demanded, jumping up. "How'd she leave a message then? When did this happen?"

"Yes, George thinks that Fang has them," Kel answered grimly as she led the way out of the mess hall. Owen was following them out of curiosity, but Esmond and Cleon had apparently decided to finish their meal. "I don't know what the message was; are you sure that it was her and not an imposter?"

"Why would someone pretend to leave a message for me?" Faleron asked. "Where are we going?"

"George's office."

"Then what would be the point?" Faleron wondered. "The message said that she would be there. You think that they'd be trying to distract us from the fact that she was kidnapped by leaving a message, but they send us to the place where we would find out that she's been kidnapped? That's stupid."

Kel smiled crookedly. "No one ever said that these people were smart." She opened the door to George's office, which was by now crowded with Sir Myles, who had been with his old friend, Lady Alanna, and her squire, Neal. Alanna, of course, had demanded to know what was going on, which led to Neal knowing, and after he had been assured that Faleron had been told, he had left to find Kel. Also present was George himself, giving instructions to one of three maids in the room. The girl nodded and left as they entered.

"Sholla," George said as he turned to one of the remaining maids. "I want you to go ask around and see if there's any chance that Ver and Dal may have left the city for the day. Check with Oner and Treble and anyone else that you can find, _discreetly_," he stressed.

Faleron frowned. "Ver sounded familiar. Where had he heard that name before?

"Now, Myles," George continued. "What have you got for me? Anything new? Threats? Ransom?" Myles shook his head.

"Why is everyone so concerned about this?" Faleron asked in what he thought was a quiet voice, but it was evident that both George and the maid heard him, though Myles seemed blissfully unaware.

"Why are _we_ concerned?" repeated the girl. "Aren't you supposed to be watching her and making sure that this _doesn't_ happen? _Nobles_." She looked positively disgusted. "Weren't you two getting along at least a little? I can't believe that Kai felt bad about leaving. She might have even stayed, you know, just because she was supposed to."

"How would you know that?" George asked sharply.

The girl, Lora, blushed. "I was there. Well, we had to do _something_," she defended herself.

"You went against orders."

"Don't give an order that won't be obeyed," she shot back. "Look at where you put her." She pointed at Faleron. "He doesn't even care that she was kidnapped. She would have been safer with us."

"I didn't mean it like that," Faleron said quickly, before George could form a retort. "I meant, why did all of _you_ care? I mean, yes, we did become friends, but Myles doesn't even know her, and I thought you were just some maid, though I'm guessing that you're one of Kai's friends, and George didn't even act like he knew Kai personally when we saw him at the Dancing Dove…"

George chuckled, making Faleron pause. "Glad you thought that. Not so sure about my acting skills sometimes," he said as if that explained everything. "I mean that I'm not supposed to act like I know Kai as anything more than some street urchin."

"I think your acting skills are getting worse," remarked Myles.

"What do you mean?" Kel asked.

"I mean," George said carefully. "That she shouldn't know certain things about her past, or she might start doubting things."

"What happened in the past?" This time it was Lora who asked, looking puzzled.

"Nothing of any importance," George said smoothly. "What _is_ important is that we get all our missing people back, because having them gives Fang massive bargaining leverage."

"Why?"

"Because," George answered Owen, "If we try to sue him for murder, then who are we going to say the witness is?"

"How do you know that Fang murdered?" Neal inquired.

"Because we have a witness. Kel." George looked slightly amused. "Joren of Stonemountain, remember? I was told that you were aware of this."

"We are; we just didn't know that you knew," Owen said reasonably.

"But why didn't Kel testify right after that?" George asked.

"Because Joren disappeared."

"And how did he escape that day?"

"He rode off."

"With who?" George asked patiently.

"Kai!" Faleron realized suddenly. "So how could we say that we knew that Joren really left the city unless we had someone that was there the whole time? The jury will think we were making all this up."

"Exactly. Especially now that the lord of Stonemountain had been recorded as saying that his son is on a brief vacation in the south." There was silence for a moment before George said conversationally, "So, who has an idea about getting them back?"

* * *

Ok, this is kinda late, but I had to wait for the electricity to come back after the thunderstorm.

**Syl Rose**: Thank you! I think that you'll like this, too, then.

**Tessadragon: **Yes, well, I liked Danai but she hasn't had much say in the story recently. She will be in it a lot more next chapter though. You also had a slightly scary way of guessing a lot of what will happen next, just not quite. I'll comfort myself that I wasn't obvious enough that you got all of the plot…I guess…

**BigBigStarr:** Thanks.

**Kitty-at-heart:** I hope this makes a little more sense now.

**Mina:** It took me like 3 days to figure out what you were talking about. After three days, I can tell you that I don't have any money and you're wrong, but you can have my tiara. : D

Also, to clarify, Dal has gone to the dark side (Fang's side) (duh duh dun). Does anyone want him to turn back to the good side? Please review.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Kai woke slowly. Her head was throbbing, and she could swear that she heard voices. Maybe I'm insane, she thought. Don't insane people hear voices in their heads?

At first, she couldn't quite differentiate anything but a meaningless drone, like everyone who was talking was in the next room, but then Ver's voice cut through her blurry thoughts.

"Be quiet, _traitor_. Where's yer precious Sherra now?"

"She's out on privet business," answered someone else smoothly. Kai shivered; he sounded very familiar. "Ah, look, one of them's waking," he said in the tone of an indulgent uncle.

Kai forced her reluctant eyes open to find that they were all staring at her; they being Ver, Fang/Joren, and Dal; but Kai would have bet her daggers (except that she was certain that she no longer had them) that there were more people waiting upstairs. She was pretty sure that it was a basement of some type, probably the home of some merchant or storekeeper in some obscure part of the city. Kai frowned and tried to move her hands, and discovered that they were tied like Vers', Danais', and Lalasas'. Dal, she noticed, was unrestrained and stood uncomfortably next to Fang.

"Joren," she said, nodding curtly, and was amused inside when he showed the slightest wince at her use of his really name. "Dal. I see you've switched sides," she commented with a forcibly unemotional voice.

"You know," Joren remarked in a conversational tone before Dal could blanch, "I could kill you right now."

"But you wouldn't," she countered, glad that her mind wasn't as slow as her body to free itself from the aftereffects of the poison. "Or you would have done that already instead of waiting for us to wake up."

"For a girl, you're pretty quick," he remarked, though his smile didn't reach his eyes. "We could use someone like you on our side." He indicated Dal, who was shifting nervously from foot to foot, as if this was the last place he wanted to be. "Join your friends and your family."

"If you mean to tell me that all my friends are joining, then you're dead wrong," Kai said after a nervous glance at Ver. She wondered if he had been offered this same thing, and what he had said. "And I have no family." Was it her imagination, or had Ver just paled? No, it must be the poor lighting around here.

"Ah, you don't know?" Fang asked in obviously mock surprise as he looked in shock from Dal to Ver. "I thought they, being your _friends_, whom you could _trust_, would tell you something like this." Dal wouldn't meet her eyes, and Ver was determinedly glaring at the floor.

"And I suppose that you, _not _being my friend, who I'm pretty certain that I _can't_ trust, will tell me anyway," Kai remarked, harboring doubts inside.

"Tell whom what?" a sleep-slurred voice asked from Kai's left. Danai was awake.

"We were just telling Kai about your aunt and uncle," Fang said with his new but really bad acting skills. "Oh, but you didn't know, either, did you? It was just Ver and Dal in on the secret?"

"No," Dal answered with obvious reluctance. Joren glared at him until he went on, "George knew, and most of the older ones in the Dove. Solomon. Orem. Marek. Rispah." He paused to look guilty. "I tol' ya," he said to Fang, "And Ver tol' Matt and Treble."

"They guessed," Ver corrected, finally looking up.

"Guessed what?" Kai demanded.

"Well, I'd tell you all if you joined my side," Joren said with a shrug. "Otherwise, I'd have to kill you so it wouldn't matter anyway."

"It don't matter now," Ver said. "What difference does it make?"

"She should know if she's going against everything her parents worked and _died_ for," the ex-squire answered Ver but looked at Kai.

"How would you know about her parents?" Danai scoffed. "_She_ doesn't know."

"It makes no difference to me," Joren said with another shrug. "I mean, I can just kill you all and be done with it. You, however, can learn whom your parents," he nodded at both Danai and Kai, "were and help the cause they worked for."

Kai suddenly realized something. "This was how you got Sherra, wasn't it?"

"Not exactly, but similar," Fang agreed with a malicious grin at Dal.

"And then," Danai continued with a smile, "You got her to convince Dal to switch sides too."

A nod.

Kai paused, thinking. "So, all our friends really haven't joined, they've just been blackmailed or tricked into it, and any family I have isn't alive, as you said that my parents died. So none of this matters." Ver and Dal both grinned in relief.

"You don't care that they've all lied to you for years?"

Danai frowned. "What were they lying to us about?"

Kai bit her lip. It probably wouldn't help them if she started asking those kinds of questions.

"But you're fighting against me, yes?" Fang asked. "Why would I tell you?"

"Danai, it doesn't matter," Kai said with sudden definitiveness. Was it her imagination or did both Dal and Ver seem much happier now?

There was a creak as a door was opened somewhere upstairs, then another creak and a light appeared on top of the stairs on Ver's right. Down came the light, and with it, Sherra. She paled a bit when she saw who was here, but continued on just the same.

"Bit sends a message, sir," she said, handing Joren a piece of paper rolled into a tight coil.

He read it and swore. "I'm leaving," he said simply before rushing up the stairs to the door. "Sherra, you're in charge. No moving."

"Wow, that was easy," Sherra marveled. The three of them looked at her, surprised, and she said, "I learned how to write from some traveling storyteller on the street." They continued their befuddlement. "There was no message from Bit," Sherra declared slowly and clearly. "I made it up. Fabricated. Pretended. Lied. Not real."

"Excuse us fer a moment," Dal said, grabbing Sherra and forcefully dragging her away, but they could still hear them anyway, so it was kind of pointless. "What are ya doin'?" he demanded.

"What I should have done before. He doesn't have any hold over me. You can stay if you want."

"Not now. I only came 'cause I thought ya were in trouble!" Dal said something too quiet for them to hear.

"I didn't _want_ to! I only did it because I thought he would do something if I didn't!" Sherra shot back angrily.

"Umm…guys," Ver called over. "If ya want ta leave, we should probably do it now. It's always better if yar _not_ there when people find out ya've betrayed them. Trust me."

"He's right," Sherra said, deliberately ignoring Dal's protests. She went and untied Danai. Dal sighed resignedly, then appeared to catch himself and laughed.

"What's happening?" Lalasa asked. She had just woken up.

"About time," Dal said with a grin as he loosened her ropes. "Good morning. Or afternoon."

"How long do we have?" Ver asked, standing.

"An hour, at least. Fang's got to get to the other side of the city and back, and no one, not even him, can do it that fast with dinnertime traffic in the streets," Sherra commented. "The people upstairs are merchants, blackmailed into Fang's legions. I casually _suggested_ that they go get something to eat, so the place is empty."

"Thanks," Kai said as her ropes came undone. "So where do we go?" she asked.

"Aren't ya back ta the palace?" Ver asked, obviously trying not to appear too angry about it. "Doesn't this show ya that ya'd be better off stayin' at the Dove for a while?"

"I don't know," Kai said with a sigh. "What are you going to do, Danai?"

Danai looked from one to the other. "I'd much rather stay in the city, but I don't really think anywhere's safe right now. I was found in both places, so what difference does it make?"

"I think you should both come back," Lalasa said quietly. Everyone turned to look at her, and she blushed a little. "Maybe even you, too," she said to Ver.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lalasa," Kai said and quickly performed all necessary introductions. She felt horrible that she hadn't remembered Lalasa, even though she _was_ quiet.

"I'm not steppin' inside that noble-ridden…" he stopped what he was going to say when Kai glared at him, nodding her head towards Lalasa. "…place," he finished weakly. "Besides, Sherra and Dal need to hide more than I do."

"No, you're too involved now," Sherra said. "You were here, and he knows that you're _ouch_!" she cried when Dal stepped on her foot.

"On to him," Dal supplied quickly. Kai scowled. "Forgot to mention that she knows, too," he said sheepishly.

"They don't know about that?" Sherra asked, eyes wide.

"They'll figure it out sooner 'r later if ya keep talkin' about it," Ver broke in. "We should really get goin'."

"That's another thing," Kai started as she followed Dal up the stairs. "When we get wherever we're going, someone's going to tell me and Danai what in Mithros everyone else knows."

"I thought ya said it didn't matter," Dal said from behind her.

"That doesn't mean we don't want to _know_," Danai put in from the bottom of the stairs.

"At this rate, they won't need anyone to tell them," Sherra said. "After you," she said, indicating that Lalasa should go up the stairs first, making the barmaid last in line.

If anyone were to see this odd line of people queuing up, they would have probably never believed that just a few minutes ago, two of them had been hated, four had been hostages, and all seven of them had been expecting to die by the end of the day.

But none of them, not even Sherra, realized that around the city, six set of eyes latched onto their group. "Send a message to tell him he was right," Bit said from a nearby rooftop.

"Go spread the word that the doves have flown the nest," Treble said from a nearby alleyway.

But from yet another place, someone else was watching, and waiting.

* * *

Ok, yes, I realize that this chapter was really bad, but even though I knew what was supposed to happen, I've had horrible writers' block. **Grin** I am happy now that Sherra and Dal are back on the good side though.

I got an email that claimed that they were ruling out responding to reviewers in stories, but, as there hasn't been anything in the rules or on the homepage, I'm going to do it anyway!

**Kaysin**: Wow, I'm so embarrassed that you caught all those mistakes. I really don't want to be seen as one of those writers who say, "It's my story, I can do whatever I want," but if I made it so that squires couldn't have servants then that would kinda ruin the whole plot. About Zahir: that I forgot. Horrible memory. But even if the king was his knightmaster, they never reported the fight because right after that Kai ran away, and when she came back, they/I forgot. Let's just say that they didn't have proof to bring it up in court, I guess.

**BigBigStarr**: Thank you! I'm so happy that there are people who actually like what I write.

**Hestia**: Yeah, I'm kinda slow to update, I know.

**Mina**: I kindas like him on the good side though. Just in reminder, this is _not_ The Matrix or Mission Impossible or whatever else you're thinking of.

**Tessadragon**: Sorry, I thought it was better to have them save themselves, even if it's extremely anticlimactic, than to have the big sword-swinging knights come in and save them. The next chapter will be more exciting (I hope).

Come on, I _know_ you all want to review…


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Alright," Dal said when they stopped at the street corner of the side alley and the main street in front of a low-roofed store, "Where are we going?"

"I thought you knew that," moaned Kai.

"Why don't we just go back to the Dove?" Ver suggested.

"That's the first place they'll look for us," protested Danai. "What about Hedi's place?"

"That's across the city," Sherra replied. "Too far. What about yours?"

"They know where I live," Danai answered.

"Thanks to you," Ver snapped at Sherra.

"Not now," Dal interrupted.

"He's right," Kai agreed when both Sherra and Ver opened their mouths to argue.

"What about the palace?" Lalasa asked quietly.

Silence.

Kai considered it. She supposed that the Dancing Dove was the best place for Ver and Sherra, since Ver hated nobles and Sherra could continue her work as a barmaid, but Danai was right that that was the first place that they'd look for them, and Kai didn't want to start any huge fights over this, especially when this was all her fault. Where else could they go? As a group, it seemed that the only solution was the palace, which was fine for Kai and Danai as that was where they'd be right now if not for being kidnapped, but Ver would hate it. Sherra would probably not mind, though, and Dal would go with whatever the group chose.

Kai took a deep breath. "I think Lalasa's right. That's the only other place."

"And it took you this long to realize?" remarked a new voice. They turned.

"Lady Kel!" Lalasa cried. Kel, Faleron, and Neal looked fairly relieved to see them. The last remark had been, of course, Neal's.

"How'd you find us?" Kai asked what she was wondering.

"The house was watched," Faleron answered, shrugging. "Were you really considering not going back to the palace?" he asked her, dark eyes serious.

She bit her lip. "If there was somewhere that everyone," she indicated the group loosely circled around, "Would like better, then we would have gone there," she said honestly. "But you would have been told. I would have sent a messenger bird or something."

"Thanks, after all this all I get a bird," Faleron joked lightly. Kai noticed that Ver was watching the exchange closely.

"Where're your crutches?" Neal demanded suddenly, changing the topic. "You're not supposed to be off them for another two weeks."

"My foot's fine," she protested, shaking out the limb in question.

"We don't have time for this," Kel said before Neal could open his mouth. Kai suddenly noticed that the two were standing farther apart than usual and that Kel never made eye contact with her friend. Had they had a fight? Kai wondered.

Suddenly, the people passing them on the main street stopped, and one face in particular stood out from the crowd like a toad in a sea of kittens. Joren smiled maliciously. "I see my plan worked and you are all here at last," he said, stepping forward, with, of course, ten or so cloaked cronies like the ones Dal had brought to Kai's room that morning.

"This," Kel announced, "Is hardly a plan. Why do you think we don't have our own people watching us just in case?"

"Because my people have taken good care of all of your people," Fang answered. "Don't worry, they'll all wake up at the edge of the city in a couple of hours. More than enough time for me."

Without warning, someone else jumped down from the roof behind them.

"Good to see you all," Treble greeted as he walked forward. "Lovely day for a fight, yes?" He looked at Fang. "You may want to tell your men to bring more than three blades with them. I'm sure those two cheap brawlers you sent will be found in a day or two, though, so don't worry." The next thing he directed at Kel. "George says that he's sending reinforcements. They'll be here in twenty minutes. He also said that however you got caught, Kai, you'll be getting a lecture when you get back. You too, Danai."

For a moment, everyone was silent while the oddity of Treble, being, of course, completely unaffected by the fact that they were about to be in an outnumbered fight, chatted on about random topics.

Then, suddenly, Joren unsheathed his sword. "Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked the people standing beside him.

With that, the fighting started and Kai felt herself be shoved to the middle of the circle next to Lalasa and Danai. "No fair!" she hollered at Faleron. "Gimme a dagger, someone!"

"Not a chance!" he shouted back.

"Well, this is nice," she muttered to Danai. "They teach me to fight, then they take away my dagger at the first sight of danger."

"Nobles," Danai said in response.

Kai glanced at her in surprise. She had actually been thinking something about how Faleron was too protective, nothing about how he was a noble. Of course, Kai thought, Dal and Ver also made no attempt to give either of them a weapon. She wondered where Ver had gotten the knife he was using, and then realized that it was probably Dal's. At least he wouldn't be calling him a traitor anymore, Kai thought.

Not surprisingly, Kel and Joren had become engaged in a battle on their own, while Neal and Faleron each had two people they were fighting. Treble was going through opponents like there was no tomorrow, taking his time before pointing out everything that the other was doing wrong and disarming him. Where had he learned to fight like that? Kai questioned.

Then, a scream rang out. Kai frowned, looking around, before she saw that Lalasa had somehow become stuck between Kel and Joren.

"Careful, Mindelan," he taunted. "Don't want to accidentally hurt the maid, do we?"

"Can't you fight for yourself, Joren?" Kel asked, this apparently being the last straw. "Are you scared?"

"Say that again and I'll cut her throat," Joren threatened, laying his blade much too close to Lalasa's throat for Kai's comfort. The others had stopped fighting, and everyone stood watching. Neal started forward. "Stay back, Queenscove," Joren said quickly. Sherra was frowning as she carefully hefted a knife. Kai remembered that she always won the throwing contests at the Dove and relaxed. "Put it down, girl," Joren said without looking at her.

"Gimme your dagger," Kai hissed at Faleron, who was standing helplessly next to her.

"Joren, let her go," Kel demanded in an impatient voice.

"What are you going to do?" Faleron asked Kai quietly.

"Are _you_ scared, Mindelan?" Joren countered Kel mockingly.

"Why don't you just trust me for a minute?" Kai shot back at a whisper.

Faleron slid her the weapon just as Neal jumped forward, green glowing hand outstretched.

"Don't," Joren warned, spinning around to face Neal with Lalasa held in front of him. His back was to Kai; this was her chance. She leapt up onto Fang's back, dagger in hand. The shock caused him to let go of Lalasa and stagger back. Some distant part of her watched Ver and Treble disarm the last few of Fang's cronies before she felt her dagger being wretched from her grasp and a hand grip her arm. Fang pulled on her arm, trying to force her off.

"Let go!" someone shouted. Kai assumed that it was Joren, after all, wasn't he the one trying to get her off him?

"Kai, get off!" someone else ordered, but this one she recognized as Faleron. Her back hit something extremely solid, probably a wall, and her grasp loosened. She looked up, and realized that everyone else was afraid to interfere because of where she was. Fang tried to tug her over his shoulder again, and he was much stronger than she was. Kai felt herself suddenly fly upwards; but then hit the ground hard and blackness overtook her.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Kel's POV

Kel could only stare for a minute at Kai, who didn't get up. Joren looked around at his disarmed and generally unconscious crew of fighters with only Kai's dagger held in front of him.

"Joren, it's over," Kel said slowly, trying to predict what he would do when the realization hit him.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you, Lump?" he sneered. He was staring at something over her shoulder and smirked.

Kel took a chance and glanced backward. Another troop of black cloaks stood in a half circle around them.

"Oh joy," Neal muttered beside her. "There's more!"

"Attack!" someone yelled. Kel thought that it was Joren, but she wasn't quite certain. She made sure that Kai was all right; she was still unconscious and Joren had forgotten about her when his friends showed up. Kel was immediately preoccupied with a particularly large man bearing a sword. After the fighting started, Joren somehow made it past their lines to join his own side, and then, just when Kel's group began winning again, Joren shouted, "This isn't over!" And with that, all of their opponents melted into the crowd.

"Don't go after him," Kel advised Treble and Ver, who both glared at the order. "It's probably a trap. Or they'll go somewhere that they have more fighters waiting."

"Anyone hurt?" Neal asked.

"My arm's cut," Sherra said offhandedly.

"Lemme see it," he ordered. The 'cut' turned out to be a huge gash and Kel turned her face away from the sight of it. It was then that she saw Kai was awake.

x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x+X+x

"Have a good sleep?" Faleron asked with a grin as he a bandaged her head.

"No," Kai answered honestly. "I can do that, you know," she pointed out.

"Right now, I doubt that you can stand up."

"Thanks for the moral support," she said dryly.

"It's true."

"That doesn't mean that either of us has to actually say that."

"You're impossible, Kai," Ver informed her as he sat next to them. Faleron stood and walked over to Neal.

"Why thank you. I'm just getting compliments all around today." Ver moved to stand up too, but she shoved herself up. "That doesn't mean you get off that easily! I want to know exactly what you and Dal were talking about!" Sadly, true to Faleron's prediction, Kai _couldn't_ stand up and had to sit back.

"I'll tell you," Ver said, walking away with a smirk, "When you can get up."

"Where are the stupid crutches when you need them?" Kai muttered to herself.

It was then that the reinforcements chose to show up in the form of some noble that bore an unusual resemblance to Neal leading a squad of the Own. "Err…where'd everybody go?" he asked from atop his horse as he scratched his head.

"They went that way," said almost Neal, pointing in the direction that Joren had taken off on. "Just a little late, Dom."

"Well, I see you handled it all very well, Meathead. No post-traumatic problems or anything?" Dom grinned. "I guess we should go see if we can find them."

"Why?" Sherra asked.

"Because if we don't then Lord Raoul will give me mucking duties for the next year or so."

Sherra turned away, muttering something along the lines of "Crazy nobles," under her breath as the soldiers galloped off.

"That was Neal's cousin. They have a very…unique relationship," Kel said carefully as she sat on her heels next to Kai.

"I'm glad I don't have relatives," Kai almost said, before catching herself. Need to get that story out of Ver, she reminded herself. She settled for asking, "Can you help me up?"

"Oh, sorry. Do you want a horse or something to get back?" Kel offered; then saw the look on Kai's face. "Never mind. Where're your crutches?"

Kai grimaced. "My room."

Kel nodded. "I see. Why are they in your room?"

"Because I could walk before this!" Kai burst out. "I don't think the gods like me anymore."

"Don't say that where they might hear," Neal warned. "And you should have been using your crutches anyway."

"It's kind of hard to negotiate things like that with your kidnappers. I don't have my daggers anymore," Kai admitted.

"Which daggers?" Ver demanded, suddenly entering the conversation.

Kai thought for a minute. "The ones Lora and Hedi gave to me for Midwinter two years ago. You remember them?"

"Err…no," Ver mumbled. "Never mind."

Kai drew in breath sharply. "You know about the old ones with the picture on them, don't you? Is that what you and Fang were talking about before?"

"The ones with the noble crest?" Faleron asked, coming over.

"Did you take the hilt apart or something?" Dal demanded, looking from Kai to Faleron.

"Do you know?" Danai asked him. The conversation was quickly attracting the attention of the entire group, Kai realized belatedly.

"What daggers?" Sherra inquired.

"Do _you_ not know?" Kai asked her. Sherra shook her head.

"Thank the gods!" Danai and Kai said at the same time, and then grinned at each other. Sherra frowned and glanced from one of them to the other.

"We just had to make sure that we weren't the only ones," Danai assured her.

"We should really leave," Ver said nervously. They were the only group standing in the alleyway, though, so it didn't matter much that they were blocking the entire passageway.

"I'll find out eventually, you know," Kai said.

"I'll tell you later when we're not in front of a crowd," Ver said, shooting the three nobles in attendance a glare.

"We should wait until Dom gets back to leave," Neal announced. Ver and Treble shifted unconsciously.

"How do you plan on getting to the palace?" Kel asked Kai, who shrugged.

"Improvise." Kai smiled. "No, I'll walk."

"Who said we were all going to the palace?" Ver inquired.

"Where would you like to go?" Kai asked in a determinedly light voice.

"Back to the Dove, and you should, too," he said.

"I do," Kai said before she thought. She saw Kel, Faleron, and Neal glance twice in her direction.

"But you won't, right?" Kel asked carefully.

"No," Kai answered, earning her a glare from Ver and Treble. "I mean I want to, but I can't," she told them.

"Why not?" Ver demanded. "Because _they_ won't let you?"

"She could've left if she wanted," Faleron shot back.

"And she did!" Danai argued. "But you came and took her again."

"Everyone, just stop!" Kai shouted. She had known it was coming; the group of people prejudiced against each other made it inevitable. Kai wished she could just run away from all this, but she was stuck sitting in the middle of the circle. "Ver, Danai was right that the Dove is the first place they'll look for us, and you know better than I do that if we go there and Fang shows up then there'll be a fight. A big one. Do you want to cause all that? I don't care where you want to go, but this is the best place right now."

"Says who?" Ver challenged.

"Says me," she replied. "And Danai. And everyone. You don't have to live there forever, just get through the summer and then move back to the city." Ver still looked unconvinced, so she added, "And just think of all the nobles that you'll be able to pick the pockets of."

He grinned. "Fine, but I'm not running around pretending to work for one of _them_."

"Fine." She shrugged. "Work in the stables. Or the kitchens. I don't know." Kai shoved her hair back from her face. "Anyone else have a problem here?"

"What about us?" Sherra asked. "Me and Treble. I got a job working at the Dove, and he already lives there. No one will care if we're there, and I'm not going up there." She shuddered as she indicated the general direction of the palace. "Haven't you heard the stories?"

"Most of them aren't true," Lalasa volunteered. "They make up a lot so that the local girls won't try to get better jobs that pay more in the palace."

"All's the same, I like my job," Sherra said.

Kai thought for a minute. Joren knew her face, name, and something about her past that he used to blackmail her into working for him. But it couldn't matter too much if it was just two people who were normally at the Dancing Dove anyway; no one would notice. At least not as much as if all six of them had gone and taken up all the empty rooms. "I think," Kai said carefully, "That you and Treble could go back and you'll be fine."

"What about me?" Dal asked.

That was what Kai had been wondering. He knew about this big secret, and that could be important. But it still couldn't hurt, right? When had she been put in charge of figuring out where everyone went? "I don't know. Where do you want to go?"

Dal shrugged. He was torn between Ver, his best friend, and Sherra. "I'll go back to the Dove," he said finally. "Good luck, Ver." He grinned.

Kai had closed her eyes while the final arrangements were being made, but someone's voice snapped her out of it.

"Kai?"

"What!" she demanded.

"We're leaving," Faleron answered with a grin.

' .,-'.,-' .,-' .,-' .,-'.,-'.,' -.,' -.,'' .,-'.,-' .,-' .,-' .,-'.,-'.,' -.,' -.,'

As you can see, I've been a little bored dividers.

Please excuse the fact that I am horrible at fight scenes and usually skip over them when I am reading. Yes, I know that was awful. And I'm sorry if it bore any resemblance to the end of TC, which was completely unintentional. Oh, if anyone noticed that Ver and Dal no longer have accents: that was because I also recently realized (was told by my little sister) that my own accents were horrible, and then I read this over and realized that they all sounded like they were Scottish or something. I'm going to go back and try to fix all that in the previous chapters.

**darkjdeg: **That's all coming up next chapter (I think).

**BigBigStarr:** Thanks for the review! Yeah, I like them on the good side, too.

**Syl Rose:** Um...not all the people who kidnapped them are good. Dal and Sherra are, but Sherra had nothing to do with it and Dal was kind of forced to. I want to explain that a little more next chapter, but I hope this gives you a better idea of what's happening.

**Tessadragon:** Thanks. I'm over the writer's block (I hope) though, so this should be faster in updating. You actually didn't sound like Yoda to me until you pointed it out. Can you do the weird squeaky voice too? Just a joke.

**GreatMotherG**: Thank you. And I hope that this is fast enough so that you're still alive. In answer to your question, Kai is fourteen, and Kel is in her first year as a squire.

Please review!


	17. Chapter 17

Ok, ok, this was a little slow, so I thought I'd give a **summary/explanation** because someone said that she couldn't remember what was happening:

So, Danai had been followed home by Fang-who-is-really-Joren's men, so George sent her to the palace so that Kai could help her find a job there and all but then Dal (who was acting like a traitor cuz he thought that Sherra, who he really likes, was a traitor, but Sherra realized that she was on the wrong side and switched back later) kidnapped Kai, Danai, and Lalasa, who just happened to be stuck there, and Ver got kidnapped too cuz he followed Ver. Anyway, Kai woke up and Joren was pretty much like "I know something you don't know!" and Kai and Danai figured out that Dal and Ver and pretty much everyone knew something about them that they didn't. Then Sherra came in and rescued (kinda) them and they all escaped, until they got out and realized that they didn't know where they were going. Then Kel, Neal, and Faleron showed up and then Joren came in with a bunch of his cronies and then Treble came too, and there was that big fight that was written horribly but Kai wasn't allowed to fight but she ended up saving Lalasa anyway. Then Kai was knocked out and Kel fought a little more and then Kai woke up and had to sort out where everyone was going so Sherra, Dal, and Treble went back to the Dove and Ver complained a lot and went with Danai and Kai to the palace. And here's where this comes in:

(Wow, I just realized that my summary didn't summarize much and it really didn't explain a lot either. Oh well. If anyone's confused, you can email me and I'll give a better explanation I hope.)

Chapter 17

"No," Kai said, her face pale.

"Kai, I can't go by myself," Danai protested. "And besides, they're in stalls or something. You can't die walking into the stables."

"I'm not going near those _monsters_," Kai denied with a shudder.

"But that's the only place Ver will be. He'd never expect us. Come on, don't you want to know what they were talking about?" Danai persisted.

Kai wavered. She was practically obsessed with these secrets that her friends had kept from them for so long, but she also wasn't willing to go into the stables, where Ver had gotten a job- probably for the sole purpose of avoiding her, which sadly, was working. "What if we just waited for him to leave?"

"Kai, you know that's never going to work. He practically sleeps in there, and we'll never catch him outside. This is our chance, while we both have the night off."

"Danai, I know that Esmond hasn't given you anything to do since you got here two days ago."  
"I still don't trust all these nobles," Danai said warningly, "And you shouldn't either. Just because they're all nice now, that doesn't mean that they won't become malicious slave-drivers when the fancy suits them."

Kai opened her mouth, and then realized what she would have said. She was going to _defend_ their _employers, _something that she would have scoffed at just a month ago. But there was a small part of her mind that insisted that Faleron was more than just a person that she was forced to work for, in whatever odd circumstances. They had somehow formed a peculiar friendship that Kai had never even seen coming. But then, who could have foreseen this happening? Kai mused.

It was then that Kai realized that Danai was still waiting for her to say something. "Fine, don't trust him if you don't want to. Your loss, I suppose," she said wearily. Kai was tired of being caught between these two worlds, and she was afraid that she'd snap at the next person who mentioned anything remotely related to prejudices. Danai opened her mouth. "And I'm still not going."

There was a knock on the door. "Going where?" Sholla asked as she walked in. She had become a part of Kai's circle of friends recently, along with Lalasa, who Danai thankfully had no problems with.

"Nowhere; that's the point," Kai said before Danai could explain.

"Kai, don't be such a baby," Danai said, exasperated. "I'll blackmail you into this if I have to."

"Blackmail?" Kai repeated. "That's so…low."

"Well I'm not going by myself, and I'm not going to be stopped because you're afraid of a few horses."

"You're afraid of horses?" Sholla snorted. "I never would have guessed."

Kai glared. "I'm not afraid of them, really. It's just a desperate reluctance to ever come near them in my life again."

"You're afraid of them," Danai said accusingly.

Kai scowled. "Fine, I'll go." She clutched at her temples. "You give me headaches."

"No, I'm helping you conquer your fears. Right, Sholla?" Danai asked.

"Of course," Sholla nodded solemnly while ignoring Kai's furious protests that she wasn't really afraid of horses. "Don't worry, Kai, we won't tell," Sholla promised with a grin and a wink; then turned to the door shaking her head and muttering, "Horses."

"I AM NOT AFRAID OF HORSES!" Kai shouted at Sholla's retreating back.

A moment later, Faleron stuck his head in the door. "Yes you are. Remember the last time you were on a horse?" he asked with a smirk.

Kai felt herself blush. "Y-yes. It was just that horse, though. It was bigger than most of them."

Faleron frowned, and was about to contradict her when Danai said, "Well then, Kai, you'll have no problem going to the stables now, right?"

Kai paled. "R-right now? Can't we go later? I…um…have to do something…for…Faleron! Maybe some other day, Danai."

Faleron shook his head. "Do you? I can't remember saying anything." His smirk widened. "But you should go now because you may be busy all of tomorrow."

"All right then. You heard him, Kai," Danai said, towing Kai through the door. "We'll just go and be right back in less than an hour."

"An hour!" Kai was heard to protest as she was dragged through the halls.

The stables smelled. Badly. Kai wrinkled her nose as she inhaled the damp smell of hay; then ended up stepping in manure. Why couldn't Ver have been a cook?

The horses in the stalls lining the aisle poked their heads out. Kai blanched when she saw that most of their heads were a good three hands above hers. She bet those huge mouths could chop off her arm in one bite.

"Danai, this was not a good idea," Kai insisted, edging for the door.

"Kai, we're already here. No leaving now." She grabbed Kai's arm and started forward in a most assertive and uncharacteristic manner. "VER!" she hollered down the aisle.

A short little boy with a head of shockingly red hair scurried out from one of the back rooms. "Are you two lost?"

"Err…no, we're looking for a stablehand named Ver," Danai explained, tugging Kai's arm when she tried to back away. "Do you know him?" Danai asked. Kai was quite certain that the horse in the stall next to them was threatening them; he was tossing his head and kept snorting. See, she thought, we've been here for one minute and already the animals hate me!

"He's the new one?" the boy asked. Danai nodded; Kai was too preoccupied with staring at the horse. "He's in the back pasture; it's through the doors to the right."

"Thanks," Danai said as she pulled Kai with her past the long lines of stalls and out the back door. It was just past sunset, and the sky was a pale purple washed with blue. On the right was a large grassy field fenced all the way around and filled with six or seven horses, all currently eating grass. Ver sat on one of the fences; he held out a carrot to one of the animals nearby, who lazily lifted his massive head, glanced through half-lidded eyes at the offering, and finally accepted the vegetable and went back to grazing.

Kai tore her gaze away from the beasts and glared at the person on the fence. "Ver!" she shouted.

His head shot up, and, startled, he fell off the fence. "Don't do that!" Ver said loudly. "You'll scare the horses into doing something dangerous," he cautioned with a look in Kai's direction. Her lips twitched; she had been watching them just in case they should decide to stampede over the fence and kill them all. Only one of the horses cared to investigate the noise, but promptly abandoned the idea in favor of the grass.

"How come you never came to see us?" Danai asked in a quieter voice as she leaned on the fence railing.

Ver shook his head. "Too many nobles in there."

"What about George?" Kai shot back from a reasonable distance from the pasture. "He's a noble, isn't he?"

"No," Ver said, shaking his head again as he looked at the horses. "He's a commoner, through and through. He just _married_ a noble."

"But that means he must _love_ the noble," Kai persisted.

"Why are you _defending them_?" Ver demanded suddenly, turning to glare at her. "Do you defend _us_ when they all laugh at us?"

"They don't laugh at you!" Kai denied hotly.

"How would you know that? Are you in on all their meetings? Are you one of the trusted members of their conspiracy?"

"What conspiracy?"

"Stop it!" Danai interjected. "That's not why we came here, Kai, and she wouldn't listen to you anyway, Ver. I've already tried." Her tone implied that she agreed with Ver, but Kai knew that she was right about their reason for being there.

"What do you and Dal know that we don't?" she asked bluntly. "And why weren't we told before?"

"It didn't matter before," Ver muttered, walking over to one of the horses. Kai wondered if he was doing that just in case she wanted to hit him after this. "And it doesn't matter now."

"If it doesn't matter, why won't you tell us?" Kai inquired.

"George would kill me," Ver explained quietly.

"And why does George care?"

"'Cause he's part of it, and he thinks that you might join them."

"Who?"

"Fang."

"What!" Danai and Kai exclaimed at the same time.

"Why?" Danai demanded.

"It's a long story," Ver said, coaxing the mare in front of him to stand between him and the girls. "And I can't tell you. George would have my ears for his collection."

"I never thought I'd see the day that Ver admitted to being afraid of someone," Danai said scathingly, in a much harsher tone than she had used with Kai when saying the exact same thing. "Come on, Kai. We'll go find George." They began walking away.

"I'm not afraid of him!" Ver shouted, just as they had known he would.

"Are you afraid of us?" Kai asked.

Ver scoffed at the two younger girls. "Of course not."

"Then why are you hiding behind a horse?"

"I'm not hiding," he said weakly. "I'm checking for bugs."

"You're obviously afraid of us," Kai announced, turning around again.

"You two are cousins," he blurted out behind them.

Kai spun around. "What!"

Danai tilted her head as she studied Kai. "We do look alike…a little bit."

"No," Kai shook her head. "I don't know who my parents were, and neither do you. Therefore, our nonexistent parents couldn't possibly be related." Then she too looked at Danai. Their hair were almost the same shades of dark brown, but Danai's eyes were hazel, while Kai's were green, and Danai's face was much longer than Kai's, which had always been too round for her liking.

"Wait," Danai said suddenly. "Is that it? That's the big secret that no one could tell us?"

Ver shrugged. "I told you it wasn't important."

"So why does George care about this?" Kai asked. "You said he was involved. And what about the daggers?"

"What daggers?" Ver asked innocently.

Kai took one of them out of her pocket and tossed it upwards. Ver reached over and caught it by the hilt.

"You really shouldn't be playing with weapons," he told her.

"Faleron's been teaching me how to use them," she said, plucking the blade out of his grasp.

"You want a _noble_ to show you?" he asked incredulously. "Why didn't you just ask one of us?"

"Stop changing the subject," Kai ordered. She tore off the canvas so carefully stitched over the crest on the handle. "What is this?"

"Family crest," Ver said after a quick glance.

"I know that," Kai shot back. "It's a noble family crest, too, isn't it?"  
"Yes."

"Why do I have this?"

"I don't know. What _are_ you doing with it?" he parroted back at her.

"Stop," Danai ordered. "We want answers."

Ver glanced from one to the other with a frown; then he sighed. "It's a Yamani family. Kai's father gave it to her mother fourteen years ago at the start of the rebellion."

"What rebellion?" Kai asked eagerly, sitting up straighter.

"The one she started." He smiled. "Aunt Liza always did like things her own way."

"WHAT?" Kai and Danai both cried.

"'Aunt Liza'?" Kai repeated. "That was my mother. That would make you my cousin, so you must be Danai's…"

Danai stood up. "WHY DIDN'T YOU EVER TELL ME YOU WERE MY BROTHER?" She looked like she wanted to slap him, but was just containing herself. Kai marveled at how outspoken Danai was becoming today.

Ver shrugged. "Would it have made anything different?" he asked her. Danai stopped and frowned too. "Would we have been better friends or would you have thought of me differently?"

Danai shook her head. "I guess not."

"No, wait," Kai interrupted. "Danai doesn't know her parents, and neither did I. And why didn't you and Danai grow up with the same people, then?"

Ver looked thoughtful. "I remember when we came to Tortal and Mum got sick. I was just a little kid then," he smiled fondly, "running around in the Dove and stirring up trouble. I remember that when she died, she told Sera to give Danai to Cara to raise, since Sera could barely support herself and Kai."

"Sera…Sera Beecher?" Kai repeated. "Was she my mother?"

Ver shook his head. "It's a long story and I really should be working." He glanced at the feeding horses as if to prove his point.

"What are you supposed to be doing?" Danai asked.

"Grazing the horses."

Kai tilted her head. "And how would this be different than what they're already doing?"

"Never mind. You city girls wouldn't understand."

"As opposed to you, who has lived in the city all his life?" Kai asked.

"Not all my life," Ver said. "I've lived other places. The Yamanis, Pirates' Swoop, part of Carthak for a few days…"

"Why?" Danai asked.

"I was in the Yamanis for four or five years, and then when Mum brought us back to Tortal, we had to hide out in Pirates' Swoop for a few days, and Carthak was at some point when I was three, I think."

"You don't really remember anything, do you?" Kai asked with an eye roll.

"I remember more than either of you two."

"Prove it."

Ver narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't you remember when you were only babies and we crossed the Emerald Ocean and there was a huge storm and you both spent the entire trip in the cabin howling?" They both shook their heads; Ver raise his voice. "What about before that when Aunt Liza went to join the rebellion and never came back and Mum spent days in her room crying about it?" Another shake of the heads. "What about afterwards, when Uncle Keroni never came back home and his relatives threw Mum out and she had nowhere to go?" His voice was breaking. "What about when she came back to Corus, her homeland, the only place where she had friends, and found out that she was wanted by the Watch? You don't remember any of that, _do you_?"

"I'm sorry, Ver," Kai said quietly, wishing that she hadn't asked. Kai really knew nothing more than she had before, but she didn't want to ask for the full story now. "We didn't know."  
"Exactly," Danai said. "No one ever told us. Is it just because no one wanted to talk about it? I think we deserved to know."

Ver patted the horse's head. "What else?" he asked wearily.

"Do you know the whole story?" Kai asked cautiously, taking a seat on the fence.

"Not everything," he shook his head. "All I know is what I remember from thirteen years ago and what I managed to weasel out of George." He looked at their patient expressions and sighed. "Fine, but if I get in trouble for not working, I'm blaming it on you."

"Family crisis," Kai commented.

"Fine," Ver agreed. "You know that Mum was a flutist, right?" They shook their heads. "Well she was, a good one, too. Her and Aunt Liza had a double act together, and they got to be the most famous entertainers in the city at one point. Mum had already married Da, who was…" he glanced at them, "a thief," he said quickly, as if it hadn't been his original intention.

"So eventually word spread to up here that they were as good as they were said to be, so they got the official king's invitation to perform. Now, Aunt Liza," he looked pointedly at Kai, "Your _mother_, hated nobles. She _refused_ to do it until Mum and Rukas," he was the king of the Rogue, "persuaded her to so that they could spy on all the nobles. George told me that that was where Aunt Liza met Uncle Keroni, and they were married a few months later. His family was…displeased that he went to Tortal and came back with a commoner for a bride, since they were really rich, I was told, but he was the younger son and happy so it hardly mattered. So Liza and Mum and Da moved with Uncle Keroni to some remote part of his inheritance in the Yamani Isles. Da got a job in the city and then was when you two were born.

"Mum and Liza went back to Corus that year. I went along, but I don't recall most of it. I remember that they got really mad about something, some small error of the Watch involving their close friends. I think some of them we killed wrongly. That was when they began researching Tortal's law system. George said that they began getting really mad at the amount of crime happening on the streets. Like murder and stabbings," he explained at their confused expressions. "Aunt Liza petitioned the government to change some of the laws, which he said were pretty important. They were denied an audience with the king and Liza got really angry. When we got back to the Yamanis, she ranted and complained to Keroni about the injustices. And Keroni, being a young, headstrong nobleman, roused his troops and began a rebellion."  
"A rebellion?" Kai demanded. "Just because of that?"

Ver frowned. "I think there was a long history of unjustified deaths or something." He shrugged. "I don't know a lot about politics."

"That doesn't matter!" Kai burst out as she stood. "You don't care that my mother may have started a rebellion and caused a hundred deaths over something completely trivial? You're just going to ignore it because it's remotely related to nobles? I can't believe you! You know that your uncle was a noble!"

"Yes, and he's the reason your parents and mine are dead!" Ver shouted. "If he hadn't gone and taken Liza so seriously, when she was just complaining about not getting her way; then Da wouldn't have died in the fighting and Mum wouldn't have had to raise us herself. Don't you get it? Liza tried to stop him when he told her about it; this was all _his_ fault!"

"Relax, Ver," Danai ordered. "I know you hate nobles, but you also can't take one man's mistake out on anyone with money."

"What about the government?" he shot back. "What about the people who were after your mother just because her sister complained to her husband about the law? How many commoners are advisors to the king?"

They remained silent because he had a point.

"I told you that none of this matters; it's just bring up ancient history," he finished. "So think twice about who you're dealing with, Kai."

Kai nodded, just because she felt bad about bringing all this up. "No more avoiding us?" she asked.

"No more nobles?" he asked back.

Kai felt sudden anger flush through her veins. "Are you refusing to speak to me if I talk to anyone you think is a noble?" she asked incredulously.

"You know everything that happened and you're still willing to associate with _those_…" she glared at him until he stopped.

"Ver," Danai broke in, ever the pacifist, "you can't expect her to change in a day just because you say she should; and Kai, you can't demand for him to be around people he hates; that's like you needing to come past all those horses to talk to him today."

"But he shouldn't hate them, and neither should you," Kai protested. "What did they ever do to either of you?"

"Why should we let our guard down so that they _can_ do something?" Ver retorted. "The only reason that you're not dead is because George is there all the time so they can't murder you in your sleep!"

"That's not true!" Kel's voice rang out before Kai could deny it herself. The squire strode forward from the stable doors with an uncharacteristic expression of anger. "You think that we, just because we were born into different families than you, would ever plot to kill anyone just because they have less money than us? You still don't trust us even though Kai and George do, and we gave Kai and Danai jobs? Faleron saved Kai _three _times!"

"From your own kind!" Ver retorted spitefully. "They-we-never asked for your help, and would have been fine without you all poking into our lives."

"I see," Kel said icily, her features rearranging themselves into their customary blankness. "So you would have been happier if your cousin was dead?"

"How do you know that?" three voices demanded at once.

* * *

Thus, the long-awaited explanation chapter! So what if nothing really happened, it was eight pages long on Word.**  
**

**Bigbigstarr:** Err...hope that cleared up a little bit of it but I'm sorry if my summary was...long...

**Kara Adar:** Thanks, and I'm glad I'm not the only one with troubles on fight scenes.

**GreatMotherG:** I'm glad you're not dead, or a zombie or something. Sorry, that sounded really weird, but I was just talking to my cousin, and he's a little...never mind. Ver and Kai are cousins, as this chapter said.

**Syl Rose:** Was the big secret ok? I'm worried that it was a little anticlimatic, but it wasn't as bad as the first three drafts (I hope). Thanks for the review!

Please review!


	18. Chapter 18

Ok, another quick **recap of last chapter**:

Kai and Danai and Ver went to the palace with Kel and co., where Ver got a job in the stables, and he started avoiding Danai and Kai, but Kai was still afraid of horses, so she was scared to go find Ver, but Danai, who got a job with Esmond, convinced her to, and they confronted him about the whole dagger thing and he told them that he and Danai were brother and sister and they and Kai were cousins, blah blah blah… oh, and Kai's mother married a Yamani noble and then accidentally caused a mass rebellion and all that…and then she and Kai's father and uncle died in the rebellion, and her aunt took them all back to Tortall, where she died of fever and passed the kids on to different friends who raised them. Kel found them in the pasture after Ver told them all this and accidentally let it slip that she knew about the entire thing. (deep breath. Wow, that was a really long sentence. I think that's it.) Oh wait, one more thing! Hedi was one of Kai's best friends from the first couple of chapters; she was briefly mentioned as a flame twirler, and after that, she headed the rescue operation made up of Kai's friends "saving" her from the nobles. (there, that's it)

Chapter 18

_"So," Kel said icily, her features rearranging themselves into their customary blankness. "You would have been happier if your cousin was dead?"_

_"How do you know that?" three voices demanded at once._

Kel's POV

An hour before

As soon as Kai and Danai left for the stables, Kel, in the room across the hall, turned to Faleron. "What was everyone was talking about two days ago? A dagger?" she asked.

He looked uncomfortable, shifting from foot to foot. "I really don't know myself."

"Tell me what you do know, please."

He sighed. "Kel, do you have to know everything?"

"Yes," she answered without missing a beat.

"Fine." He reluctantly recounted that night that he and Kai had discovered the pictures under the canvas on the hilt of her daggers.

Kel stared at Faleron. "So her…dagger…had a family crest on it? And she didn't know about it? Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I trust her about that. She wasn't lying. But it wasn't a Tortallian family. Look familiar?" He sketched out a few rough pictures on a scrap paper.

Kel's mouth dropped open. "Faleron," she finally managed, "that's Shinko's family!"

Silence ensued. "What do you mean that it's Shinko's family?" Faleron said slowly.

"I mean," Kel enunciated, "That it's the royal family of Yamani's insignia. It's all over the country."

Faleron winced. "That means someone has to tell Kai that her mother really didn't get this any lawful way. She's convinced that it wasn't stolen."

"Well, it might not be stolen," Kel said, then suddenly. "Does George know about this?"

Faleron shrugged. "I didn't tell him."

"I'm going to go see," Kel said decisively, standing up.

"Then I'm coming," Faleron declared as he looked around the otherwise-empty room.

Sholla was standing outside the door to George's rooms, pacing back and forth. "He hasn't opened the door for two hours!" she exclaimed when they got within hearing distance. She shook a piece of paper at them. "This is very important and I can't just leave it here! And…I think something bad happened," she confessed in a more quiet tone.

"I'm sure everything's fine," Faleron assured her. Almost as an afterthought, he added, "Do you know what this is?" He showed her the sketch of Yuki's crest that he had made before.

Sholla stared at it a long time. "It looks familiar," she said finally, "But I can't remember where I saw it."

Kel nodded. "That's ok. Can you just give this to George when he comes out?" she asked, scrawling a quick note on the back of Faleron's paper.

Sholla nodded and took the paper, and Kel and Faleron began walking away again. "You know," he was heard to have remarked, "I liked that drawing. It was quite good, don't you think? I probably won't get it back now."

It was only twenty minutes later that brought a banging on Kel's door.

"Where did you get this?" George demanded, clutching the paper that they had left with Sholla.

"Faleron drew it," Kel answered with a slight smile. "Pretty good, right?"

"Where'd he see it then?" George asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"He found it under a piece of canvas on the hilt of Kai's dagger," Kel explained in a tone of one commenting on the weather. "Do you know what it is?"

"Yes, and so do you."

"So why would Kai have a dagger that was _not stolen_ from the Yamani royals?" Kel asked innocently.

"That is none of your business," George snapped; then softened a little. "We just never wanted to tell her when she was little that her parents were thieves. It was easier to say that her mother was some famous singer, and her father a juggler."

"Just like it was easier to tell me that than the truth?" Kel asked critically.

"No, it's sad but true," George said with a sigh. "If you don't believe me, you could go ask Sholla."

"Except that she doesn't know," Kel pointed out. "And you know that she doesn't know, don't you?"

George laughed. "Lass, do _you_ even know what you just _said_?" Kel showed no reaction.

"You're lying," Kai declared. "Otherwise you wouldn't have been so anxious when you got here and then suddenly become relaxed."

"You could use a job in the spy service," George suggested seriously. "If this whole knight thing doesn't work out, that is."

"What aren't you saying?" Kel asked.

George studied her for a long time before saying, "Do you have someplace that we won't be overheard?"

It was a good half an hour later that Kel left her room, head whirling from what she had been told. She had no idea that Kai and Danai were in precisely that same position in the pastures, and immediately set out to find them. Kel wondered how much of this Faleron knew, or Sholla, or Kai even.

"_So," Kel said icily, her features rearranging themselves into their customary blankness. "You would have been happier if your cousin was dead?"_

_"How do you know that?" three voices demanded at once._

"You told _her_ but not _us_?" Kai exclaimed, turning to Ver. "What happened to hating nobles?"

"How'd you find out?" he asked Kel.

"Would you have been happier if she was dead?" Kel pressed, more clam now.

Ver hesitated, caught in his own trap of words; Kai stared at him. Was he actually going to wish that she were dead just so that he didn't have to deal with the people he hated? "No," Ver said finally. "But I would be happier if you had just let us take care of Fang and not have this mess."

Both Kel and Kai opened their mouths to argue with that, but Danai beat them. "What's done is done. Accept the past or you'll never notice the present."

Kai grinned, momentarily sidetracked by the oddness of the comment. "Danai, I think you've been listening to the Doi too much." There were a few people from a Doi tribe who made their living in the city by giving cryptic predictions of the future.

"So what if I have?" Danai asked lightly, flipping her hair behind her shoulder. "I know that you got all excited when that old woman told you that you would have good luck that day, and then the waiter spilled all that lemonade on your new shirt."

"I was ten, I hardly knew any better," Kai said loftily. "Besides, there was that time that you…"

"That's not the point!" Ver broke in angrily. "The point is, _she_ knows, and I didn't tell her!" He indicated Kel with an abrupt nod.

"I can explain that," Kel said.

"How?" Ver demanded. "Were you spying on us? Did you hear everything we just said?"

"No!" Kel denied. "I asked Faleron why you were all talking about a dagger back in the city. He…drew a picture of what he remembered." She handed Ver a paper with a few rough sketches on it that Kai recognized as what was on her dagger. "Do you know what family this is?" Kel asked.

"We know that it's Yamani," Ver said defensively.

"So how did you get the daggers with this on them?" Kel asked carefully, expression masked.

"I got it from my guardian," Kai volunteered.

"Mine are from my mother," Ver added, revealing two matching knives that resembled Kai's daggers.

"You both have some?" Danai asked, hurt. "Why didn't I get one?"

Kel frowned. "Danai means peace in Yamani, right?"

"Yes," Ver said, surprised. "Mum wanted you to never become mixed up in something like the rebellion that took her family away. She said that you would be the pacifist between us, and, if necessary, me and Kai would protect you."

"What!" Danai scowled. "She wanted to control my destiny before I could even walk? She thought that just because I was the youngest that I couldn't fight?"

"Danai, you _can't_ fight," Kai felt inclined to point out.

"Maybe I want to learn!"

"We could teach you," Kel and Ver offered at the same time, resulting in a glare from the latter.

"_We_," Ver stressed, "Are perfectly capable of showing you how to fight."

"Really?" Kel asked innocently, before blanked-faced, she reached out almost casually and plucking one of the knives from his grasp. "Nice grip," she complimented ironically.

"Hey!" Ver tried to grab the blade from her, and failed. "This is so like all you nobles! Take something of ours and then blame us for the thieving!"

"Would you please stop using all those _noble_ comments?" Kel asked, obviously annoyed, even through her usual mask. "Because I'm not saying anything about your parents."

"And what would you know about my parents?" Ver challenged.

"I know who your father is," Kel said simply.

Ver's jaw dropped. "You're lying."

"You could go ask your uncle about this, if you want," Kel responded mildly.

"Did he tell you?" Ver demanded with a scowl. "See, you people turned him into a noble like the rest of you! Just confiding in each other all the time and not telling us anything!"

"What are you talking about?" Kai injected.

Ver glared. "Nothing."

Kel frowned. "They don't know?"

"The next time someone says that," Kai burst out, thoroughly annoyed with their inability to tell them anything, "I will go crazy." Then she leveled her dagger at Ver's throat. "What do we not know?" she asked slowly.

Ver smirked at her. "Are you going to try to hurt me?" he asked in the tone one would use with a small child. "How cute." He grabbed her wrist and twisted it. "This I really _do _have specific orders not to tell you, or anyone, and if George wants to break his own promises to go gossip with the nobles, then that's him."

"What else have you lied about?" Kai shot back, ducking out of his grasp. "You didn't tell Danai that you were her brother! For Mithros' sake, how can we trust you again? What _else_ is there that we don't know?" she persisted. Danai started to say something, but Kel beat her to it.

"Kai, stop," Kel said. "It's not his fault. I didn't know that it was a secret."

"Don't order her around!" Ver snapped. "Just because you're a noble…"

"_I know that I'm a noble!"_ Kel finally shouted, mask broken and thrown aside. "_And I don't need to be reminded of that by some oblivious, uneducated, narrow-minded, prejudiced, unthinking boy from the streets!"_

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

**RandomrReader314**: Thanks. And, in answer to your question, no, I just take Spanish in school and mariposa translates into butterfly.

**Tessadragon**: Thanks for the advice on fight scenes. I put most of the big explanation into the next chapter so I hope that that worked out all right. Are you a really big Star Wars fan?

**Syl Rose**: Thank you so much. You are the only person who reviewed the last chapter. It's ok, though, I'll move on anyway. Sorry this was so long in coming: school. Enough said. I hope this chapter explained everything all right.

Like it? Hate it? Kinda good but the entire thing was horrible after Ver started talking? Confused? Opinions, anyone? Please review!


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary/Recap: **Not much happened last chapter. Lets see…Kel found out about everything about Kai, Ver, and Danai in a short flashback, and she recognized the crest on Kai's dagger as the Yamani royal family's symbol. Ver got in a sort of argument with pretty much everyone…that may be it…

Chapter Nineteen

"_I know that I'm a noble!"_ Kel finally shouted, mask broken and thrown aside. "_And I don't need to be reminded of that by some oblivious, uneducated, narrow-minded, prejudiced, unthinking boy from the streets!"_

"'From the streets'?" Ver repeated with a smirk, completely unfazed.

"Ver, she's right," Danai said.

Ver turned to Danai, about to retort with something, when Sholla came running through the stable doors. "Everyone, we're calling a meeting. Go to George's rooms, fast."

The small study was once more crowded with people, though this time Kai, Danai, Lalasa, and Ver were present, as well as Sholla, George, Dal, Sherra, Faleron, Kel, Neal, Owen, and a few others that Kai didn't recognize.

George was scanning papers when they got there, a steady frown on his face as he read. When he was done, he began muttering things that sounded suspiciously like curses. "Sholla, if anything else new comes, be sure that it gets here directly as soon as possible." He stood slowly and surveyed the room as the barmaid nodded and left the room. "Everyone," George said gravely, eyes unusually serious, "There has been a fire in the city."

There was silence for a few seconds as everyone considered the gravity of what had happened. "How big?" Sherra asked finally. It was market day, Kai knew, so the streets would have been packed with people and animals.

"Big," George answered simply. "Does anyone know the big furniture workshop right in front of the Fools' Theater in downtown?" Most of the people in the room nodded; the theater was actually a well-known outdoor stage that the street performers used for free. "The officials say that the flamethrower on stage dropped their torch and the fire somehow spread to the workshop. The pine resin inside, all the paints, the wood, everything exploded; it ignited the theater and part of the buildings next door."

No one said anything. Danai seemed to be fighting tears and Ver was frowning. Kel's face closed off like a door.

"Hedi?" Danai asked quietly. Kai paled. Hedi was a flamethrower, one of the only ones in the city!

"I'm sorry," George said in answer to Danai's question. "Witnesses say that she was on stage at the time, and no one's seen her since."

"Did anyone find…her?" Kai said carefully, keeping in mind that nothing was definite.

George shook his head. "A fire that big…well, she wouldn't be recognizable." Everyone in the room winced. "I'm sorry, but there's really no way that she would be able to survive a fire that large."

Danai shook her head quickly. "No, Hedi was used to fire! If anyone could have gotten out it would have been her!"

"But no one _could_ have gotten out," George persisted. "I'm sorry, lass."

"Stop saying that!" Danai shouted at him. "She's not gone! Not until you find her body!"

Even Kai, in her state of shock, realized that the situation didn't look at all hopeful for Hedi. "Danai," Kai said slowly, "They probably _won't _find her body. You just have to accept it now and move on." Did I just say that? Kai wondered.

"No, Kai!" Tears were coursing down Danai's face, and Kai knew that she herself probably was crying, too. "I'll just go to her apartment! You'll see! She'll be there like always, and we'll all laugh at this and it will all just be some big mistake! You'll see!"

Danai turned on her heel and walked straight to the door, only to find Esmond blocking it.

"Let me through," Danai ordered, furiously wiping the tears off her cheeks.

"You know that it's not safe out there," he said.

"I don't care! Let me out!"

Kai watched, her mind roiling. She didn't know what to think anymore. On one hand, she wanted nothing more than to run out that door with her best friend and prove them all wrong, find out that Hedi was still alive, and have a good laugh over all of this. But another part of her had matured in the last month or so and demanded that she see the logic in Esmond's argument. He was right that Danai had been followed before, and it would be even worse now that she had escaped from Fang with the rest of them two days ago. But though Kai saw all of this reason, she still knew what she wanted to do.

"What if I go with her?" she asked loudly, interrupting Danai and Esmond's argument.

"No," Faleron said immediately.

"We'll be fine," Danai protested. "Ver can come, too."

"You were all captured by Fang before," George pointed out.

"Whoever, we don't care," Kai said quickly. "Who wants to come?"

"Neither of you are going," Ver announce abruptly. "It's not safe for you two out on the streets." He walked to the door. "I'll be back before tomorrow morning."

"_What_?" Kai almost shouted. "_You're_ going but we can't?"

"It's after nightfall. You shouldn't be out that late, especially after something big like a fire. All the looters'll be out."

"That doesn't matter! You hardly even know Hedi!" Danai said loudly.

"None of you are leaving," George broke in grimly.

"_Why not_?" all three of them demanded at once.

"She was one of my best friends!" Danai argued.

"I'm seventeen for Mithros' sake! I'm of age to decide for myself! I've been out _after_ dark before!" Ver protested in a partly mocking voice.

"You can't just keep telling me to stay here!" Kai objected. "I can't just pretend there's nothing happening out there!"

"Everyone, calm down," George ordered. "Danai, I know that you were good friends, and a great deal of people will be devastated when they learn of her unfortunate passing. Ver, I am perfectly aware of your age." Ver paled just a bit here, and Kai wondered why. "The fact remains that this is most likely a trap after what happened two days ago."

He sighed deeply, and Kai's stomach plummeted to the floor; this couldn't be another of her friends, could it?

"One of our spies happened to be watching the show from a nearby window," George said carefully. He paused. "Hedi never dropped her torch."

"But I thought you said…"

"I told you what the Watch said," George interrupted Danai. "They'd never admit that they let someone set a fire on one of the biggest public stages in the city and the most important workshops in five days' riding distance and that they now have no solid leads."

No one said anything.

"Are you saying that someone purposely set the fire?" Neal asked cautiously.

Sholla looked from Kai to George and back with an incredulous expression on her face. "No," she said suddenly.

"I'm afraid so, lass," George said resignedly. "Who else would take such a big risk if not him?"

"'Him'?" Kai repeated; then found herself echoing Sholla. "No. Not him."

"Fang?" Danai demanded. "He did this?"

Kai bit her lip, strongly resisting the urge to scream, or cry, or stand there and deny that any of this had ever happened. It was her fault that her friend was dead! It was her fault! If she hadn't been friends with Hedi, then Joren would have never killed her to get revenge. The words reverberated through her mind. Her fault, her fault, her fault…

Kai turned and abruptly ran out of the room.

**Faleron's POV**

Danai got up hurriedly and followed her. Faleron glanced about nervously, and then made to stand, but found Ver in front of him blocking the way.

"Let them settle this."

"Them?" Faleron asked, shocked. Ver glared at him. "Think about it. The two of them will just run off into the city and Fang's trap."

"A trap?" Esmond repeated, looking towards the door.

"Why else would he bother to try something this big?" Neal asked, catching on to Faleron's idea. "And especially on the day that their friend just _happened_ to be on stage?"

"He knows that Kai's going to want to get revenge now, and then she and Danai will be caught _again_," Faleron couldn't resist adding.

"Since when would you know what they would do?" Ver demanded.

"They're right, Ver, and you know it." George finally spoke.

Ver scowled and didn't respond.

"Kel, are you all right?" Neal asked suddenly. Faleron glanced at Kel. She was staring silently staring at one of the walls, Yamani mask on, her knuckles white from gripping the arms of the chair she sat in.

"He did it again," she said tersely. "Joren…he killed commoners just because they were in the way of what he wanted." She stood up swiftly. "We have to go after him."

"No, not now," George said. "They're right that this is a big trap made by Fang. Would you like to repeat the little episode of two days ago?" Kel shook her head. "Will you swear not to leave the palace for the next three days?"

"What?" Kel asked incredulously. "You don't trust me enough to know that I won't do anything stupid?" Neal opened his mouth, and she glared at him. "Don't answer that, Meathead." She sighed. "Fine, I, Keladry of Mindelan, solemnly swear that I will not go off the palace soil," she rattled off quickly. "Happy?"

"Very," George said. "You too, Ver."

"Me?" Ver asked, astonished. "But…I'm not some little girl that'll go off and get killed!" He ignored the protest that came from almost everyone in the room; he really did have a point that he was three years older than Kel. "I have two _years_ on that little…" he pronounced a word that should not be repeated at this time to refer to Joren, "And you don't think I can handle a fight with him because it's after _dark_?

"What if you're outnumbered?" George challenged. "How many can you fight at once? How do you know Joren won't just slink off while you're distracted?"

"Fine. Not now, but soon," Ver said darkly.

Faleron suddenly realized something. "Kel, did you ever…" He didn't notice the scowl on Ver's face, but Kel did.

"Yes," she interrupted at the warning look from George. "But I don't think I should tell you. I probably shouldn't even know. Ask Kai."

"Know what?" Neal inquired, glancing between them.

"Nothing," Kel said quickly, not meeting Neal's gaze. Faleron suddenly noticed that she hadn't done or said anything directly to Neal all day. Or all week. What was wrong between them?

And what if Kai and Danai had already left the palace? Faleron wondered, glancing nervously at the door. "You know, they could be all the way to that merchant's house by now."

Sholla shrugged. "I'll bet you two gold nobles that they're just in Kai's room."

"You're probably right," he said reluctantly. However, when he, Sholla, Esmond, and Ver got to Kai's rooms, they found them deserted.

"Esmond, go tell the gatekeeper to close the gates," Sholla ordered, taking immediate control. "Ask him if anyone out of the ordinary has gone or left in the past half hour. I'm going to go tell George. You two go search anywhere that they might be _inside the palace_." And with that, she scurried off.

"Look, I know you'll want to make it seem like you're doing something to help, but I know that you have no idea where Kai or Danai would go, so _I'll_ find them and you pretend to be searching," Ver decided before taking off in one direction.

Faleron glared at his retreating back, then decided that it hardly mattered. Unlike Kel, he understood that some people were steady in their beliefs, and nothing he said would ever change that, so why bother?

"If I were Kai, where would I go?" he mused quietly, pacing in a small circle. After a moment, his head snapped up, he grinned, and quickly turned in the opposite direction as Ver.

_The words reverberated through her mind. Her fault, her fault, her fault…_

_Kai abruptly turned and ran out of the room._

She didn't know where she was going, but she hardly cared. The most important thing was to get away. She allowed her feet to carry her where they would, and found herself outside of her own door. No, they'd find her here right away, and the last thing that she wanted to do now was to talk.

"Kai!" Danai shouted as she rounded the corner of the hall at a run.

That helped her make up her mind quickly. Pretending that she hadn't seen or heard Danai, Kai calmly opened the door and slammed it shut.

It wasn't that she was mad at her best friend; she just couldn't face that it was her fault, the hatred that she would eventually see in Danai's eyes when she figured it out for herself, not just yet.

Kai crossed the room quickly and took a deep breath before jumping out the window, and, except that this time she didn't twist her ankle, it was exactly as the same as when Hedi had come to rescue her with all of their other friends. Hedi. The thought gave an added impetus to Kai's legs as she raced across the ground.

Where was the last place that anyone would ever look for her? Kai wondered as she took refuge in a small nook in the wall. The first place that came to mind was the stables, but there would be people there who would wonder what a maid was doing running around at this time of night. Where else would no one ever bother to look for her?

When the answer came to her, she grinned ironically and ran back the way she had come.

The door to Faleron's room was open. Kai was somewhat surprised; he normally locked his room during the day, and she had brought lock picks with her for that necessity. Kai shrugged; if he had forgotten to lock his door, then she wouldn't have to explain why she had had to break in, as she would have had to do before. She was ready for when she would eventually be found; Kai knew that she would never be able to keep hiding and she didn't want to, either. She just couldn't talk to anyone just yet.

With a slight shrug, she pushed the door open and walked in.

"Kai-"

Kai shrieked. She had definitely not expected anyone to be in here, least of all Faleron. "What are you doing in here?"

Faleron grinned from his position on top of his bed. "This _is_ my room, remember?"

"Yes, but why aren't you at the meeting or something?" Kai asked slowly, edging back to the door.

"Oh no you don't," Faleron shouted, jumping off his bed and grabbing her arm at the same time as she suddenly turned and ran for the door. "Sit down, please."

She glanced at his hand gripping her arm and shrugged mentally. What could she do? She sat at the desk. "So, why are we here?" she asked after a long minute of silence as if nothing had happened.

"We're here because you ran out of the meeting." Kai stared at the wall. "What's wrong?"

" 'What's wrong'?" Kai repeated blankly, meeting his gaze. "What's wrong? What's wrong is that Hedi is dead because of me! Dead! Never coming back! Because she was my friend! This is my fault! Everything, all of this!" Kai gestured around frantically, her voice rising.

"Kai!" Faleron interrupted grabbing her shoulders. "_It's not your fault_."  
"Yes it is!" she shouted at him. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes; she roughly wiped at her face. "Don't you see? If Hedi had never known me, then Joren would have never killed her! She'd still be alive!"

"So what?" Faleron demanded. "Would you have just never been her friend? He would have found someone else, so don't blame yourself. It's because of Joren that all of this has happened."

Kai bit her lip. "Maybe you're right…"

"Suppose?" Faleron asked with a laugh. "Of course I'm right. But now you have to realize that you're still alive. You can mourn, but life goes on, and you have to let this go."

"'Life goes on,'" Kai mused quietly. She brushed away her tears and stood up decisively. "You know, you're right." She crossed the room to the door to her bedroom and emerged a minute later, tucking daggers into various places on her body. "Life does go on."

"What are you doing?" Faleron asked nervously.

"I'm going to go settle this once and for all," Kai answered. "I can't just sit up here safe and sound while my friends fight my battles for me. I'm getting revenge."

"No you aren't." Faleron stepped between her and the door.

"Faleron, I know what I'm doing. Move."

"Kai, think for a minute. Why would Joren take such a huge risk for no reason other than to kill one flamethrower?" Kai winced. "He's not stupid. He _wants_ you to come after him. It's all a trap."

Kai heard what he was saying, and deep down she knew that he was right, but she also refused to believe it. She took a deep breath. "I don't care. I'm going."

"No, you aren't."

"Yes, I am," Kai stubbornly persisted, pretending to move right and then dodging left for the door. "Stop!" she shouted after he moved in front of her and she crashed into him.

"Just listen to me for once, will you?" he asked in a frustrated-sounding voice. Kai didn't noticed, though, as she was too busy looking for another escape route. "Kai!" He finally just pinned her arms to her sides. "Think for a minute."

"I know what I'm doing, Faleron; just let me leave," she pleaded, squirming.

"So you can get killed? What about Danai and Ver? What about the rest of your friends? What will they do when they find out that you were killed too? Do you want to put them all through that? What about Sholla and Dal? What about Kel and Neal and Esmond and Owen? What about me?"

"It's my fault!" she shouted. "If I were to die, what would it matter? You should all be happy that I'm finally gone!"

"Why would we be happy about that?" he demanded. "It was _not your fault_!"

"Yes it was!" she cried. "If Joren had just killed me, then Hedi would still be alive, and Danai and Ver would be in the city instead of here, and half of my friends wouldn't hate me because they think I've switched sides, and you wouldn't be stuck with me, and all those other people in the fire today would be fine, and Sholla would still be at the Dancing Dove instead of passing messages up here, and George would be home with his wife, and Dal and Sherra would have never been dragged into this, and…" Kai trailed off when she realized that she couldn't think of anyone else's inconveniences that she had been the cause of.

"Done?"

Kai glanced up, surprised at his almost angry tone, and nodded.

"All right, then just listen for a minute. It was not your fault that _any_ of this happened. It was all Joren, and even if you hadn't been friends with Hedi or hadn't escaped before, he would have still found someone else and blaming yourself is just stupid."

"Thanks," Kai muttered sarcastically. She finally twisted out of his grip and wiped her tear-covered cheeks; she hadn't even noticed that she was crying. Kai took a deep breath, suddenly feeling very tired. How late was it? Kai wondered. "So what now?" she inquired exhaustedly.

"Are you staying here?" Faleron asked.

" 'Suppose so," Kai answered with a sigh.

"You know I don't mind," he protested, discreetly directing her to the door. "It's not so horrible, here, right?"

"No, it's not so bad," Kai admitted. "The beds are nice."

"I think you need one right now," Faleron commented, opening her door and lightly shoving her inside. "And no sneaking off in the middle of the night, either!" he shouted through the closed door.

Kai hardly heard him, because she simply collapsed onto her bed for the long wait for sleep to overtake her.

* * *

Yes, it has been an incredibly slow update; I got a little wrapped up in my new book. On that subject, does anyone out there read Diana Duane's YW series and would be willing to recommend a good fic/author in that category? Oh, and I've been meaning to ask, has anyone read Will of the Empress yet? Yes, I know this isn't a circle-verse story so lots of people out there probably don't read Emelan, but I heard it was all right from some people with ARCs, but I'm looking for second opinions…

**Tortall Princess**: Thanks for the review. As for Kai and Faleron…who knows? Not me, how sad is that?

**GreatMotherG:** Wow, that's like kinda scary that you guessed it. Or did you? Now I may have to add some big plot twist there for the sake of it. And because I love plot twists. Don't you? Thanks for the review!

**Mina:** it's supposed to be a semi-confusing chapter because it was the big plot twist so everything changes. You didn't know about butterfly? That was on our list for vocab in FIFTH GRADE! I'm gonna bring my notebook to school now just to prove that. Oh, and I think I have a rough family tree in back too.

If anybody else is confused about the whole family thing, write that in a review and I'll put up a better explanation or a family tree or something.

Please REVIEW!


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary/Recap** THIS IS IMPORTANT: back in some other chapter, it was mentioned (yeah, I'm too lazy to get an exact quote) that Mindelan had had landslides, killing lots of people, including Kel's parents, and harming the harvest. In chapter nine, Kai and Faleron accidentally overheard Kel arguing with her brother when she found out that he had been forced to betroth her because of the damage from the landslides. END IMPORTANT PART. Like anyone's going to read past that. Well, for anyone who's wondering what happened last chapter, Kel and Ver were in the middle of a shouting match, and then they had a meeting in George's rooms, and Kai and Danai found out that Hedi was killed in a fire probably set by Joren…blah, blah, blah…Kai thought the whole thing was her fault…oh, and she and Faleron had a really long conversation…

**_CHAPTER TWENTY! _** (too bad it's just a stupid filler chapter)

**Faleron's POV**

Faleron leaned against the wall of George's room, frowning. He had explained that Kai was sleeping but here, in the palace, and that he didn't think that she would leave, but had locked her door just in case. There had been much protest at the precaution, but he knew that it was necessary.

Something was bugging him, though, and that was that Kel and Neal had been sent to get a simple messenger bird, and still hadn't come back. He wondered what was happening between those two, especially their new lack of communication. Maybe they had had a fight and were now in the middle of a duel in the practice courts over something like which bird to take, Faleron thought with a small smile.

"Lalasa, can you go see if the birds attacked Kel and Neal?" George asked with an almost identical smirk.

Lalasa nodded and left.

Owen tossed a small juggler's ball up. "I found it on the street," he said defensively to Esmond and Faleron's grins. George continued to write messages as the page tried to juggle and the squires laughed at his miserable failures.

When Lalasa came back a few minutes later, thoroughly paler than when she had been a few minutes before. "Kel and Neal are a little busy right now, so I just went and got it myself," she said quietly.

"Busy doing what?" Owen inquired.

"Shouting at each other," Lalasa answered quietly.

"Figures," Esmond said, chuckling. "Should we send someone in to rescue them?" He glanced at Faleron.

"Don't look at me," Faleron said hurriedly. "I'm not getting in the middle of this."

"Let 'em work it out on their own," Owen suggested.

The door opened, and they all turned, expecting to find Kel, Neal, and a bird, but instead Danai and Ver walked in.

"Where's Kai?" Danai demanded, stomping up to Faleron.

"She's asleep in her room," he answered, somewhat surprised at her uncharacteristically abrupt behavior.

"No she isn't," Danai argued. "I saw her running through the courtyard half an hour ago."

"Well," Faleron said carefully, "I don't know how she got into the courtyard, but I left her in her room ten minutes ago."

"You left her in her room?" Ver repeated suspiciously. "How'd _you_ get in her room?"

Faleron was about to say that there was a door leading from his room into hers, but he somehow thought that that wasn't going to make the situation better. "Look, she was falling asleep when she was in my room so I sent her into hers."

"Why would she be in your room if she was running away?" Danai asked.

"Do you want a truthseer?" Faleron demanded, exasperated. "Either you take my word that she's sleeping in her room or you go check for yourselves!"

"Fine," Ver responded, turning to the door. Danai, appearing to not know what else to do, followed him. Right before Ver could turn the doorknob, however, the door opened of its own accord. Or, rather, Neal's.

**Kel's POV**

Kel pointed out a bird in the cage. "How about that one?" she asked, carefully keeping her eyes on the bird.

"Why not?" Neal replied in an unconcerned voice.

Kel glanced at him sharply. "What's wrong?" she inquired politely, mask falling into place after she realized that she had accidentally looked directly at him.

Neal sighed. "Did you hear from your family lately?"

"Anders is in the city for a couple of weeks," Kel answered, looking at the pigeon as she spoke.

"Did he tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Their tones were still civil almost to the point of distant.

"Gods Kel, you have to know what I'm talking about!" Neal suddenly burst out. "Otherwise you'd actually look at me instead of the bird!"

"Maybe the bird's more interesting," Kel suggested, not raising her voice in the least.

"Maybe you're scared," Neal countered.

Kel grinned despite herself. "Neal, I know you're ugly, but I'm brave enough to look at you anyway. One of the major accomplishments of my pagedom, remember?"

"No changing the subject," he ordered, tone unusually serious even for Neal. "I know that you know about Mindelan's financial problems this year."

Kel glared at him. "Are you trying to tell me I'm too poor for you?"

"No, but I want you to understand why Anders did it. He wouldn't accept my father's donation, and we heard about all the landslides, so we had to help, but I didn't know about what they did until afterward."

"You want me to _understand?_" Kel repeated. "He sold me away for a few pieces of gold!"

"He didn't 'sell you away'," Neal argued. "And it was a lot more than a few pieces of gold. Anders knew that we were friends. Besides, most noble girls end up engaged much before their fourteenth year, and to old, stuffy men who've probably outlived six other wives."

"I guess marrying you will be a little better than Duke _Vartin_," Kel said distastefully. Duke Vartin was well into his sixth decade.

"Honestly, Kel, you flatter me," Neal said sarcastically. "What's really wrong?"

"Nothing," Kel denied quickly, face and voice devoid of emotion.

"Kel, how are we supposed to build a successful marriage if our friendship…"

"That's the problem!" Kel interrupted. "Don't you think that it'll be just a little bit uncomfortable being _married_ to each other?"

"Oh course I do!" Neal answered loudly. "And you not talking to me is not helping this."

"I'm sorry; I thought that this conversation would be _awkward_," Kel shot back. "This is so much better than I expected though, though."

"Why do I bother?" Neal muttered, turning toward the door. "Just get the stupid bird and we'll leave."

"No," Kel said boldly. "You started this conversation; let's finish it like adults." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I avoided you."

Neal turned back to her and flapped a hand, uncharacteristically quiet. " 'S all right."

"So," Kel paused, "I'll try to do this if you will too."

"You know," Neal remarked, familiar grin in place, "Some court women would jump at this chance."

Kel grimaced. "Court women also wear those ridiculous dresses and giggle all the time."

"Kel," Neal said straight faced, "If you ever giggled then I would personally see you to the best Healers in Tortall."

"Thanks, Neal," Kel said sarcastically as she opened the birdcage. "Nice to know you're taking your new job seriously." She carefully took one of the pigeons out and smiled. "We should get back before they start thinking that we got lost on our way here or something."

"They know I wouldn't get lost," Neal joked, holding the door open. "I'm too brilliant for something like that."

**Faleron's POV**

"_Do you want a truthseer?" Faleron demanded, exasperated. "Either you take my word that she's sleeping in her room or you go check for yourselves!"_

"_Fine," Ver responded, turning to the door. Danai, appearing to not know what else to do, followed him. Right before Ver could turn the doorknob, however, the door opened of its own accord. Or, rather, Neal's._

"Sorry," Neal said quickly. "We got lost on the way back." He grinned at Kel, who couldn't wholly contain her own smile as she followed him into George's office. Owen was smirking and the baron of Pirates' Swoop was also watching the exchange closely. It did not elude Faleron that Kel and Neal, who had left without speaking to one another, were now joking like nothing had happened. Faleron glanced at Lalasa, wondering how much she had overheard.

Ver and Danai slid past the two newcomers, heading for Kai's room. It was only then that Faleron remembered that he had locked Kai's door, just in case. Mentally hitting himself on the head, he ran after them.

"Wait!" he yelled after their retreating backs.

Danai turned with a surprised expression. "Yes?"

"You need the key," he explained, holding out the aforementioned object.

"It's locked?" she asked in disbelief as she grabbed it. "You locked her in? Why?"

"I was worried that she'd do something stupid," he said simply.

"So you locked her in her room?" she asked again.

"Look, did you want her to sneak out by herself to go kill Joren?" Faleron asked, annoyed.

Danai snorted. "Kai's not that stupid, Faleron. She'd wait for some of us to go, at least."

"You didn't see her twenty minutes ago, all right? I think she's sleeping now, anyway, so she wouldn't have ever known."

"Yeah, what else do you not tell her?" Ver challenged, suddenly entering the conversation.

Faleron was starting to get a headache. "Don't accuse _me _of keeping secrets."

Ver gaped for a minute; then promptly began cursing. "How in Mithros do _you_ know that?" Even Danai was looking suspicious.

"I don't know anything about _what _you told her-them," Faleron corrected quickly at Danai's glare, "but it wasn't hard to see that someone was keeping a secret. Remember the long dagger conversation in the middle of the city three days ago? It was kind of obvious that Ver was keeping something from you two."

"'Was keeping'?" Ver repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

Faleron _definitely _felt a headache coming on. "I was there when Danai and Kai both left for the stables," he reminded Ver. "Why else would they have gone?"

"Never mind," Ver said sullenly, still looking suspicious, but Danai seemed to accept his answers at least. "Let's go, Danai."

**Kai's POV**

Someone was knocking on her door, Kai realized gradually. She had been staring up at the ceiling for what felt like an hour but probably was nowhere near as long. Kai dragged herself up off her bed and opened the door.

"Kai," Danai seemed unsure of what to say. She became aware that her hair probably looked like it had survived a desert sandstorm and the rest of her was probably the same. "Were you sleeping?" Danai asked in a somewhat guilty voice.

"Not really," Kai mumbled. How late was it? she wondered. "What's wrong?" she asked, waking up a little as she noticed Ver, who was scowling.

"I don't trust that _noble_ you work for," he said distastefully. "Did you know that he locked the door?"

"No," Kai answered slowly. "Why would he do that?"

"He's a _noble_, Kai; he doesn't need a reason."

"No," Danai interrupted, glaring at Ver. "He said he didn't want you to get killed." The singer turned her unusually sharp gaze onto Kai. "Would you really have left without us?"

"Maybe," Kai said, guilty in her turn thinking about before, when she really _was_ going to go after Joren.

"Well, we're here now," Ver said unexpectedly. "Why _don't_ we leave?"

Kai stared at him for a moment. Why _didn't_ they go? Faleron had stopped her because she was going alone, hadn't he?

She looked down at herself. "Let me get changed first," she heard herself say, shutting the door. She heard Danai and Ver talking out in the hall, but didn't really pay attention to it. Kai felt dazed, like she wasn't wholly connected to her body. She realized that she had gone to bed with all her daggers still on, so after changing her clothes and braiding her hair quickly, she was ready. "Let's go," she announced, opening the door.

* * *

Ok, that's all for now. Stupid keyboard stilldoesn't work. Will do replies next chapter. 


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